ArticleEmerging microbes & infections2026
Lactoferrin blocks orthopoxvirus entry via heparan sulphate and regulates host antiviral pathways.
Article in Emerging microbes & infections, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- TGFBI in tumors and the tumor immune microenvironment: functional roles, mechanisms, and therapeutic targeting.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
16 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Current antiviral therapies for orthopoxviruses face critical challenges, including limited efficacy and significant toxicity, which impede outbreak containment and clinical management. Here, we identify lactoferrin as a potent antiviral agent against multiple orthopoxvirus strains. Combination administration of lactoferrin with brincidofovir or tecovirimat demonstrated additive efficacy, suggesting a potential clinical strategy to reduce individual drug toxicity. Mechanistically, lactoferrin blocks viral entry by competitively binding to heparan sulphate proteoglycans (HSPGs). It also suppresses viral replication by regulating host antiviral pathways, including down-regulating cytokines and upregulating TGF-β-dependent antiviral signalling pathways. We identify TGFBI as a virus-responsive target regulated by lactoferrin. Lactoferrin treatment restores TGFBI expression and activates downstream MAPK/ERK and JAK2/STAT3 signalling cascades, leading to enhanced interferon production and interferon-stimulated gene (ISG) expression. In a murine vaccinia virus (VACV) infection model, lactoferrin treatment reduced lung viral loads and histological damage. These results underscore lactoferrin's distinctive dual antiviral mechanism and highlight its translational potential as a safe and cost-effective prophylactic or therapeutic agent. It is particularly beneficial for immunocompromised populations in resource-limited settings during orthopoxvirus outbreaks.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.