Measles and Cancer, Influenza, Fantastic Voyage, and a little history
 Measles virus fights cancerA phase I clinical trial has begun to test an engineered measles virus against multiple myeloma, a cancer of the bone marrow that currently has no cure. Many cancers, including multiple myeloma, overexpress a protein called CD46 which allows them to evade destruction by the immune system. Laboratory strains of measles virus use this protein as a receptor to enter cells. On entry, the virus replicates infecting nearby tumor cells and fusing them together, increasing cancer cell death. |
 It’s the adjuvant, stupidThere’s been lots of newsflap over the last few days about GSK’s announcement at the International Symposium on Respiratory Viral Infections in Hong Kong this week that their candidate H5N1 vaccine appears to protect against strains of the virus isolated in different countries. What most of the reports, apart from this slightly better one in Scientific American, have not stressed is that much of the protection may be down to the secret proprietary adjuvant which GSK are using (alum, garlic, eye of newt, etc) as much as the virus strain chosen to base the vaccine on. |
 Fantastic Voyage: single virus trackingWhen I was a teenager, Fantastic Voyage had a great impact on me. Few teenage boys could fail to be impressed by Raquel Welch in a tight wetsuit covered in soap suds, but I like to think that it was the fact that she (and her colleagues, who I found considerably less interesting) had been shrunk to microscopic size, injected into some poor guy’s armpit, and the soap suds were supposed to be white blood cells attacking them. How else would you explain a career in microbiology? Now, you can undergo your very own fantastic voyage, although sadly, without Raquel. Shrink to submicroscopic size and ride with a virus particle on its journey into the cell? Phwoar! Pretty strong stuff for Nature Reviews Microbiology! Virus trafficking – learning from single-virus tracking. |
 How two antimicrobials altered the history of World War IIThis great article in Microbiology Today describes how two novel antimicrobial drugs may have altered the outcome of World War II. The sulpha drugs, together with penicillin and the other antibiotics that followed, had a massive effect on medicine, saving countless lives in peace and war as well as making possible many of the medical advances we now take for granted. These two drugs had a particular impact in WWII and while the Allies had unlimited supplies of penicillin from D-Day onwards, the Axis powers had to rely upon the less dependable sulphonamides. For good or for evil, antimicrobial agents have dramatically changed the course of history. Although we usually emphasize their positive effects in saving lives, these two stories show that history is never simple and that antimicrobials have had a complex impact on the modern world. |
The use of plant compounds as adjuvants in vaccines may have first been based on pharmacology. But they are also based (especially in China) on the idea of combining herbal medicine with conventional medicine.
It’s usually those lovely triterpene saponins and/or special polysaccharides that are given the limelight. Most herbalists will suggest that the whole herb may be just as effective or more effective. Many herbalists recommend taking these herbs a week before and after receiving a vaccination. I am a herbalist, in case anyone was wondering (member American Herbalists Guild). I did my Masters thesis on adaptogenic plants. http://www.rrreading.com/publications.html
Examples of herbs that have been used as adjuvants in vaccines (most of which have adaptogenic properties; increases resistance to stress):
Astragalus membranaceus astragalosides (triterpene saponins)
Astragalus polysaccharide
Epimedium polysaccharide
Epimedium flavone
Esberitox (combination of Echinacea purpurea and E. pallida, Thuja, and Baptisia)
Ganoderma lucidum (unspecified, but contains both polysaccharides and triterpene saponins)
Isatis root polysaccharide
Panax ginseng ginsenosides (triterpene saponins)
Pinellia ternate (pinellic acid)
Propolis flavone
Sho-saiko-to (composed of 7 botanical ingredients including bupleurum root, licorice, ginseng, jujube, pinellia tuber, ginger, and scutellaria root)
Tridax procumbens (ethanol insoluble fraction of the aqueous extract)
Mechanism of action:
“markedly promote lymphocyte proliferation and enhance antibody titer…”
“influences both humoral as well as cell mediated immune system vis-a-vis assists in genesis of improved antibody response against specific clinical antigen.”
“supports seroconversion”
“enhances immune response”
“slightly enhanced antiviral IgG Ab titers”
I did mention the issue of the adjuvant in my post here.
BTW, I enjoy your blog & will add it to my blogroll.