Impact of lactoferrin on bone regenerative processes and its possible implementation in oral surgery – a systematic review of novel studies with metanalysis and metaregression

BACKGROUND: Lactoferrin is an iron – binding glycoprotein with anti-inflammatory and anabolic properties found in many internal fluids. It is worth looking at novel studies, because of their methodology and observations that may once be applicable in modern implantology. The aim of the study is to answer the question if lactoferrin is a promising factor for bone regenerative process in oral surgery. METHOD: An electronic search was conducted on 14th October 2019 on the PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science databases. The keywords used in the search strategy were: lactoferrin AND bone regeneration AND oral surgery. The qualitative evaluation was conducted using the Jadad and Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Form. Then a metanalysis of a new bone growth and percentage of the resorbed graft were performed with the metaregression of lactoferrin dose to its outcome effects on bone regeneration. RESULTS: The search strategy identified potential articles: 133 from PubMed, 2 from Scopus, 4 from Web of science. After removal of duplicates, 136 articles were analyzed. Subsequently, 131 papers were excluded because they did not meet the inclusion criteria. The remaining 5 papers were included in the qualitative synthesis. The use of lactoferrin clearly increases the growth of a newly formed bone (2.58, CI:[0.79, 4.37]), as well as shortens the time of the graft resorption (− 1.70, Cl:[3.43, 0.03]) and replaces it with a species-specific bone. Heterogeneity is significant at p < 0.001 level. Metaregression indicates that one unit increase in the log (Treatment dose), i.e. a 2.78 times increase of the Treatment dose, results in an increase of the Effect size by 0.682. CONCLUSIONS: The use of lactoferrin both systemically and locally promotes anabolic processes (new bone formation). There is a relationship between the increase in administered dose of lactoferrin and the intensity of new bone formation. However, it is not only necessary to continue experimental research, but also to extend it to the clinical studies on patients, due to the limitations of different animal model research and different methodology, to introduce lactoferrin as a standard procedure for the treatment of bone defects, because it is a promising product.