La lattoferrina per os, un’importante alternativa priva di effetti indesiderati, nella prevenzione e trattamento dell’ipoferremia ed anemia da carenza di ferro in gravidanza

I ron is an essential element for humans. The body iron, about 3 g in women and 4 g in men, is mainly incorporated in the haemoglobin, myoglobin and cytocromes (2-2.7 g). In bone marrow, every day, 20 mg of iron deriving from lyses of senescent erythrocytes, are utilized for the synthesis of the new erythrocyte heme. The non-hemic iron store in cells and blood is guaranteed by ferritin, a protein able to sequestrate more than 4500 iron atoms per molecule. I ron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency, and an important nutritional disorder afflicting about two billion of people in the world. Iron deficiency has been identified by World Health Organization as one of the ten risk factors for illness, disability and death in the world. Moreover, iron deficiency in pregnant women as a consequence of an increased iron requirement, due to enhanced blood volume and development of foetal-placenta unit, represents a high risk for maternal and infant health: preterm delivery, foetal growth retardation, low birth weight, inferior neonatal health. There are three possible ways to prevent and control the development of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia. These encompass dietary diversification, food fortification, and individual supplementation. Anyway, the preferred treatment of these pathologies consists in oral administration of iron as ferrous sulphate. However, the large quantity of ferrous sulphate to be administer to subjects, suffering of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia, is related to the poor bio-availability of inorganic iron. Moreover, ferrous sulphate oral administration often fails to exert significant effects on iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia, and frequently causes many problems, including gastrointestinal discomfort, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, and sometimes may increase the susceptibility to infections. Lactoferrin, a glycoprotein synthesised by exocrine glands and neutrophils, able to chelate two ferrric ions per molecule, can be an interesting alternative to ferrous sulphate in preventing and curing iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in pregnant women. The idea to orally administer lactoferrin is very fashionable, by the light of the recent knowledge on the role of inflammation in iron homeostasis. A s matter of fact, recent clinical studies have clearly demonstrated the efficacy of lactoferrin in rescuing iron homeostasis, in the absence of any side effect. Lactoferrin, orally administered, restores the physiological levels of iron in the blood, thus preventing a cell damage induced by iron overload in the tissues.