Clinical applications of antimicrobial host proteins lactoperoxidase, lysozyme and lactoferrin in xerostomia: efficacy and safety.

Innate human salivary defence proteins, lysozyme, lactoferrin and peroxidase, are known to exert a wide antimicrobial activity against a number of bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens in vitro. Therefore, these proteins, alone or in combinations, have been incorporated as preservatives in foods and pharmaceuticals as well as in oral health care products to restore salivas' own antimicrobial capacity in patients with dry mouth. These antimicrobials used in oral health care products, such as dentifrices, mouth-rinses, moisturizing gels and chewing gums, have been purified from bovine colostrum. In this review I critically evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of this kind of preventive approach against various oral diseases and symptoms.