Immune supplement claims questioned

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Doubts have been cast over the claims made about a new supplement being marketed for its effect on the immune system.

BioSource Immune Plus contains GlycomaxTM Lactoferrin, a glycoprotein found in the whey protein of cow’s milk. The manufacturer claims it supplements the body’s naturally produced lactoferrin, thereby supporting and promoting immune function and wellbeing.

Olympic swimmer Grant Hackett, who helped launch the product last month, has endorsed it and claims to use it to supplement his immune system during training.

However, Associate Professor Connie Katelaris, a senior consultant in clinical immunology and allergy at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital, said although lactoferrin had known physiological effects, there were no data for its use as a therapeutic substance.

Professor Katelaris said there had been two published studies of lactoferrin in humans, both using healthy volunteers, and neither had backed up the claims of the product.

“Lactoferrin is very interesting [but] the doubt is whether you can then take it, put it in a capsule … and have these far-reaching effects,” she said. “That is not to say it is not worthy of further study, it is just that there is nothing with which to back up claims at present.”

However, Mr Rudi Ganter, a director of Probiotec, which developed the product, defended Immune Plus, saying there had been numerous studies on humans.

He said the firm’s own human clinical trial data would be published soon. It examined the substance’s antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and immune response, with positive results, he said.