title: Discovery and development of a synthetic peptide derived from lactoferrin for clinical use.
abstract: There is an urgent need to develop new antimicrobial drugs especially for combating the rise of infections caused by multi-resistant pathogens such as MRSA and VRSA. The problem of antibiotic resistant micro-organisms is expected to increase disproportionally and controlling of infections is becoming difficult because of the rapid spread of those micro-organisms. Primary therapy with classical antibiotics is becoming more ineffective. Combinational therapy of antibiotics with antimicrobial peptides (AMP's) has been suggested as an alternative approach to improve treatment outcome. Their unique mechanism of action and safety profile makes AMP's appealing candidates for simultaneous or sequential use in different cases of infections. In this review, for antimicrobial treatment the application of synthetic antimicrobial peptide hLF(1-11), derived from the first 11 amino acids of human lactoferrin is evaluated in both pre-clinical and clinical settings. Present information indicates that this derivate from lactoferrin is well tolerated in pre-clinical tests and clinical trials and thus hLF(1-11) is an interesting candidate for further exploration in various clinical indications of obscure infections, including meningitis. Another approach of using AMP's is their use in prevention of infections e.g. as coating for dental or bone implants or in biosensing applications or useful as infection specific radiopharmaceutical.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Section of Nuclear Medicine, Leiden University Medical Center, Room C4-R-77, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Carlo P J M
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Brouwer
authors.forename: Mahfuzur
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rahman
authors.forename: Mick M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Welling
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000494:pharmacology*; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D002175:Candida / Q000187:drug effects; D060326:Chemistry Techniques, Synthetic; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D055808:Drug Discovery; D004341:Drug Evaluation; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004357:Drug Synergism; D006801:Humans; D007781:Lactoferrin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology; D055624:Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009181:Mycoses / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D010446:Peptide Fragments; C466658:lactoferrin (1-11), human; D007781:Lactoferrin