The clinical use of monolaurin as a dietary supplement: a review of the literature.
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to determine what the peer-reviewed literature says about the clinical applications, therapeutic dosages, bioavailability, efficacy, and safety of monolaurin as a dietary supplement. METHODS: This was a narrative review using the PubMed database and the terms "monolaurin" and its chemical synonyms. Commercial websites that sell monolaurin were also searched for pertinent references. The reference sections of the newer articles were searched for any other relevant articles. Consensus was reached among the authors as to what articles had clinical relevance. RESULTS: Twenty-eight articles were found that appeared to address the clinical use of monolaurin. CONCLUSION: There are many articles that address the antimicrobial effects of monolaurin in vitro. Only 3 peer-reviewed papers that evidence in vivo antimicrobial effects of monolaurin in humans were located, and these were only for intravaginal and intraoral-that is, topical-use. No peer-reviewed evidence was found for the clinical use of monolaurin as a human dietary supplement other than as a nutrient.
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There are many articles on the antimicrobial effects of glycerol monolaurate in vitro and in vivo in animal studies, but only three papers highlight in vivo antimicrobial effects in humans.
“There are many articles on the antimicrobial effects of GML in vitro and in vivo in animal studies but only three papers highlight in vivo antimicrobial effects in humans (Barker et al., 2019).”
From Insect Derived Lauric Acid as Promising Alternative Strategy to Antibiotics in the Antimicrobial Resistance Scenario (2021) · cites this paper as Barker et al., 2019
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- Authors
- Barker, L. A., Bakkum, B. W., & Chapman, C.
- Affiliations
- Illinois College of Optometry (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bakkum, Barclay W.
- ORCID
- Barker, Lisa A.
- Venue
- Journal of Chiropractic Medicine
- Published
- 2019-12
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 305-310
- ISSN
- 1556-3707 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7486475
- OpenAlex
- W3083329898
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 36
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 0.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Chiropractic Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Inorganic Chemistry › Coconut Research and Applications
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Diet and metabolism studies
- Keywords
- monolaurin, dietary supplements, antimicrobial activity, bioavailability, therapeutic dose, safety, topical application, clinical efficacy
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