Oral administration of bovine lactoferrin for treatment of tinea pedis. A placebo-controlled, double-blind study

A clinical study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of lactoferrin , which is a protein component of cow's milk, in the treatment of tinea ped is. Doses of either 600 mg or 2000 mg of lactoferrin, or a placebo was oral ly administered daily for 8 weeks to 37 adults who were judged to have mild or moderate tinea pedis. Dermatological improvement and antifungal efficac y were assessed. In the analysis of ail subjects, dermatological symptoms s cores in all groups decreased but the differences were not statistically si gnificant comparing the three groups. However, in the analysis limited to s ubjects with moderate vesicular or interdigital tinea pedis, dermatological symptoms scores in the lactoferrin-treated groups decreased significantly in comparison with the placebo group (P<0.05). The organisms isolated were Trichophyton rubrum and Trichophyton mentagrophytes. A mycological cure was not seen in any of the subjects. In the 37 subjects there were no adverse events and no subject withdrew from the study because of an adverse event. These results suggest that orally administered lactoferrin can improve the dermatological symptoms in some subjects. The potential usefulness of lacto ferrin as a functional food material for treating tinea pedis was seen for the first time in this study.