Department of Public Health and Infectious Diseases, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Department of Biosciences and Territory, University of Molise, Pesche, Italy.
Biochem Cell Biol. 2024 Dec 1;102(6):506-514. doi: 10.1139/bcb-2024-0036. Epub 2024 Aug 1.
Interstitial cystitis (IC), defined as a painful bladder syndrome (PBS), is a chronic condition that manifests itself as a suprapubic pain associated with an enhancing of frequency/urgency of urination, and for which there is no cure. Here, we present a retrospective pilot study on women affected from IC/PBS and treated with bovine lactoferrin (bLf). A total of 31 women, affected (20) or unaffected (11) from hereditary thrombophilia (HT), presented the median of 6 episodes of IC/PBS during the 6 months before the study. Treatment consisted of 17 weeks of orally administered Valpalf capsules, containing bLf plus sodium bicarbonate and citrate. Out of 31 patients, only 3 women had one episode of IC/PBS during the follow-up period, while no episode was observed in 28 women. In the HT group, a significant decrease in both serum IL-6 and D-dimers was found after Valpalf treatment. Moreover, in Valpalf-treated women, cystoscopy revealed a global improvement in the appearance of the bladder, especially in term of inflammation/irritation and presence of Hunner ulcers. Even if our results must be corroborated by randomized double-blinded controlled trials on a larger number of patients, our observations indicate that bLf treatment is efficient in relieving IC/PBS symptoms, without side effects.
间质性膀胱炎（IC），定义为疼痛性膀胱综合征（PBS），是一种慢性疾病，表现为耻骨上疼痛，伴有尿频/尿急加重，目前尚无治愈方法。在这里，我们报告了一项针对患有 IC/PBS 并接受牛乳铁蛋白（bLf）治疗的女性的回顾性试点研究。共有 31 名女性，患有（20 名）或不患有（11 名）遗传性血栓形成倾向（HT），在研究前 6 个月期间出现了 6 次 IC/PBS 发作的中位数。治疗包括口服 Valpalf 胶囊 17 周，该胶囊含有 bLf 加碳酸氢钠和柠檬酸盐。在 31 名患者中，只有 3 名女性在随访期间出现了 1 次 IC/PBS 发作，而 28 名女性没有观察到发作。在 HT 组中，Valpalf 治疗后血清 IL-6 和 D-二聚体均显著降低。此外，在接受 Valpalf 治疗的女性中，膀胱镜检查显示膀胱外观整体改善，尤其是在炎症/刺激和 Hunner 溃疡的存在方面。尽管我们的结果必须通过对更多患者进行随机双盲对照试验来证实，但我们的观察表明，bLf 治疗在缓解 IC/PBS 症状方面有效，且无副作用。
