Lactotransferrin gene functional polymorphisms do not influence susceptibility to human immunodeficiency virus-1 mother-to-child transmission in different ethnic groups

Abstract

Lactotransferrin, also known as lactoferrin, is an iron binding glycoprotein that displays antiviral activity against many different infectious agents, including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1. Lactotransferrin is present in the breast milk and in the female genitourinary mucosa and it has been hypothesised as a possible candidate to prevent mother-to-child HIV-1 transmission. To verify if two functional polymorphisms, Thr29Ala and Arg47Lys, in the lactotransferrin encoding gene (LTF) could affect HIV-1 infection and vertical transmission, a preliminary association study was performed in 238 HIV-1 positive and 99 HIV-1 negative children from Brazil, Italy, Africa and India. No statistically significant association for the Thr29Ala and Arg47Lys LTF polymorphisms and HIV-1 susceptibility in the studied populations was found. Additionally LTF polymorphisms frequencies were compared between the four different ethnic groups.

Levels of serum sclerostin, metabolic parameters, and periodontitis in ­postmenopausal women with diabetes

“…Periodontitis is a multifactorial inflammatory and infectious disease that affects the periodontium, caused by an impaired immune response against oral bacteria, which causes damage to both the connective tissue and bone tissue . It is the leading cause of tooth loss in adults over 40 years of age .…”

Role of lactoferrin and lactoferrin‐derived peptides in oral and maxillofacial diseases

“…The anti‐viral effects of LF against HIV‐1 occur through its ability to bind to dendritic cell‐specific intercellular adhesion molecule‐3‐grabbing non‐integrin, which can block viral attachment and prevent its transmission from dendritic cells to T cells (Groot et al., ). However, a preliminary study was conducted on HIV‐infected and healthy pediatric populations in Brazil to investigate whether the Thr29Ala and Arg47Lys polymorphisms in the LTF gene could alter vertical transmission of the virus and revealed no significant association between these two variables (Zupin et al., ).…”

Exploring the Role of Lactoferrin in Managing Allergic Airway Diseases among Children: Unrevealing a Potential Breakthrough

“…These genetic variants can influence its levels or functionality. They may affect health and disease susceptibility by impairing LF’s ability to bind iron, its antimicrobial properties, or interactions with the immune response [ 70 ]. Some single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been identified and have been associated with various conditions: for instance, two polymorphisms in the first exon of the LF gene, resulting in amino acid changes (Thr29Ala and Arg47Lys) in the N-terminal region of the protein that mediates its antibacterial properties have been associated with different pathologies, such as periodontitis [ 71 , 72 , 73 ], dental caries [ 74 , 75 ], ovarian cancer [ 76 ], nasopharyngeal carcinoma [ 77 ], dyslipidaemia [ 17 ], and coronary artery stenosis [ 78 ].…”