The Th1->Th2 Switch in HIV-AIDS Is an Allergy Hypothesis

This Israeli group describes AIDS as the immune response switch to Th2, with overabundant IgE, which then disables Th1 cytotoxic responses.

1: Virus Genes. 2004 Apr;28(3):319-31.

HIV-1 induced AIDS is an allergy and the allergen is the Shed gp120--a review,
hypothesis, and implications.

Becker Y.

Department of Molecular Virology, Faculty of Medicine, The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12272, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. becker@med.huji.ac.il

The possibility that the induction of T helper 2 (Th2) cytokine synthesis and the gradual increase in interleukin 4 (IL-4) and IgE levels during HIV-1 infection are an allergic response to HIV-1 proteins was raised in the author's previous article [Becker, Virus Genes 28, 1-4, 2004]. The present review extends this hypothesis by citing experimental reports which indicate that HIV-1 shed gp120 virions share a striking resemblance with the allergens that bind to IgE molecules bound to Fc epsilon receptor I-positive (Fc epsilon RI) cells (mast cells, basophils, monocytes, and dendritic cells, DC) and then induce them to release and synthesize the IL-4 cytokine. In the earlier review, it was established that the IL-4 cytokine is responsible for the following processes: IgE synthesis by B cells and the inhibition of antiviral IgG synthesis; the inactivation of T helper 1 (Th1) cells; and the inhibition of the antiviral cytotoxic T cell (CTL) response. The binding of the shed gp120 to B cell-bound immunoglobulin (Ig) depletes these cells. Moreover, it was reported that the viral regulatory proteins Tat and Vpr also stimulate IL-4 release from basophils. The mode of action used by HIV-1 gp120 in the induction of IL-4 [Becker, Virus Genes 28, 1-14, 2004] revealed that the viral protein contains a superantigen (SAg) domain that is capable of binding to the V(H)3 domain of IgE and Ig; namely, the shed gp120 protein act as endogenous and environmental allergens that
bind to IgE molecules, which are bound to the Fc epsilon RI receptors on hematopoietic cells. Based on these findings, it is hypothesized that gp120 is an allergen. Consequently, it can be inferred that the active replication of HIV-1 in infected individuals constantly exposes the immune system to an increase in the allergen content until the host immunity is eventually compromised. These finding suggest that HIV-1 engage in a two-pronged attack of the human immune system: it infects Th2 cells, macrophages, and DCs and then replicates at these venues; and the shed gp120 cells cause an allergy. This allergic condition consequently prevents the induction of Th1 cells, cytokine synthesis, and antiviral CTLs that are needed to clear the infecting virus and thus devitalizes the antivirals that are used to treat the virus infection. It was hypothesized [Becker, Virus Genus 28, 1-14, 2004] that the HIV-1 induced allergy can be treated with IL-4 inhibitors or immune response modifiers. A treatment that employs both antivirals and anti-allergen drugs may very well defeat the AIDS syndrome. Another implication of the present hypothesis is the need to improve the viral antigen used for vaccinating healthy individuals against HIV-1 infection. It is thus suggested harmful domains be eliminated from the gp120.


PMID: 15266113 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


If this is true, there are many things which dampen Th2 and augment Th1 naturally, such as L-theanine, zinc, selenium, and things like citrus:

1: Mediators Inflamm. 2008;2008:496467. Epub 2008 Nov 30.

Citrus/Cydonia comp. can restore the immunological balance in seasonal allergic
rhinitis-related immunological parameters in vitro.

Baars EW, Savelkoul HF.

Department of Healthcare and Nutrition, Louis Bolk Instituut, 3972 LA Driebergen,
The Netherlands. e.baars@louisbolk.nl

In two in vitro studies, we examined the immunological (pathways of the) effects of Citrus/Cydonia comp. from, respectively, a healthy and an allergic donor; peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated out of peripheral blood and analyzed in vitro after polyclonal stimulation of T-cells. The differentiation capacity and the influence with regard to Th1 (IFN-gamma) and Th2 (IL-5) cells were examined. Citrus/Cydonia comp. has a selective effect on the differentiation of T-cells by producing relatively more IL-10 than IL-12. By that, it also seems to have an effect on the induction of regulatory (IL-10 producing) T-cell subsets. It is in vitro capable of neutralizing (to some extent) the changes, characteristic to allergic rhinitis, with regard to the maturation, differentiation, and activity of the immune system. Thus, Citrus/Cydonia comp. can potentially restore the disturbed immune state of rhinitis patients, which essentially could be sufficient to make allergic
symptoms disappear permanently.

PMCID: PMC2590663
PMID: 19079587 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

1: Med Hypotheses. 1999 Jul;53(1):6-16.

Modern diets and diseases: NO-zinc balance. Under Th1, zinc and nitrogen monoxide
(NO) collectively protect against viruses, AIDS, autoimmunity, diabetes,
allergies, asthma, infectious diseases, atherosclerosis and cancer.

Sprietsma JE.

Bennekom, The Netherlands.

Thanks to progress in zinc research, it is now possible to describe in more detail how zinc ions (Zn++) and nitrogen monoxide (NO), together with glutathione (GSH) and its oxidized form, GSSG, help to regulate immune responses to antigens. NO appears to be able to liberate Zn++ from metallothionein (MT), an intracellular storage molecule for metal ions such as zinc (Zn++) and copper (Cu++). Both Zn++ and Cu++ show a concentration-dependent inactivation of a protease essential for the proliferation of the AIDS virus HIV-1, while zinc can help prevent diabetes complications through its intracellular activation of the enzyme sorbitol dehydrogenase (SDH). A Zn++ deficiency can lead to a premature transition from efficient Th1-dependent cellular antiviral immune functions to Th2-dependent humoral immune functions. Deficiencies of Zn++, NO and/or GSH shift the Th1/Th2 balance towards Th2, as do deficiencies of any of the essential nutrients (ENs) - a group that includes methionine, cysteine, arginine, vitamins A, B, C and E, zinc and selenium (Se) - because these are necessary for the synthesis and maintenance of sufficient amounts of GSH, MT and NO. Via the Th1/Th2 balance, Zn++, NO, MT and GSH collectively determine the progress and outcome of many diseases. Disregulation of the Th1/Th2 balance is responsible for autoimmune disorders such as diabetes mellitus. Under Th2, levels of interleukin-4 (II-4), II-6, II-10, leukotriene B4 (LTB4) and prostaglandin E2(PGE2) are raised, while levels of II-2, Zn++, NO and other substances are lowered. This makes things easier for viruses like HIV-1 which multiply in Th2 cells but rarely, if ever, in Th1 cells. AIDS viruses (HIVs) enter immune cells with the aid of the CD4 cell surface receptor in combination with a number of co-receptors which include CCR3, CCR5 and CXCR4. Remarkably, the cell surface receptor for LTB4 (BLTR) also seems to act as a co-receptor for CD4, which helps HIVs to infect immune cells. The Th2 cytokine II-4 increases the number of CXCR4 and BLTR co-receptors, as a result of which, under Th2, the HIV strains that infect immune cells are precisely those that are best able to accelerate the AIDS disease process. The II-4 released under Th2 therefore not only promotes the production of more HIVs and the rate at which they infect immune cells, it also stimulates selection for the more virulent strains. Zn++ inhibit LTB4 production and numbers of LTB4 receptors (BLTRs) in a concentration-dependent way. Zn++ help cells to keep their LTB4 'doors' shut against the more virulent strains of HIV. Moreover, a sufficiency of Zn++ and NO prevents a shift of the Th1/Th2 balance towards Th2 and thereby slows the proliferation of HIV, which it also does by inactivating the HIV protease. Research makes it look likely that deficiencies of ENs such as zinc promote the proliferation of Th2 cells at the expense of Th1 cells. Zinc deficiency also promotes cancer. Under the influence of Th1 cells, zinc inhibits the growth of tumours by activating the endogenous tumour-suppressor endostatin, which inhibits angiogenesis. The modern Western diet, with its excess of refined products such as sugar, alcohol and fats, often contains, per calorie, a deficiency of ENs such as zinc, selenium and vitamins A, B, C and E, which results in disturbed immune functions, a shifted Th1/Th2 balance, chronic (viral) infections, obesity, atherosclerosis, autoimmunity, allergies and cancer. In view of this, an optimization of dietary composition would seem to give the best chance of beating (viral) epidemics and common (chronic) diseases at a realistic price.


PMID: 10499817 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

The Tragedy of Trivializing Natural Medicine Combined with Ignorance in HIV-AIDS

I was at the Stanford 10 year reunion, and I had someone come up to me and ask if I was going to prescribe beet-root, olive, lemon, and garlic to them.

The answer is a resounding yes, but only in the proper preparation, dosing, and indication. The idea that a salad or glass of veggie juice is going to help you in severe disease is, of course, absurd. So no, I am not going to suggest you eat a salad to cure your disease, which in this case may be mental. It turns out that a trained biologist, not a politician, or a trust-fund daughter with no background in biology would be able to see that each one of those have anti-viral molecules within them. If you were to extract and concentrate these, you would have an effective anti-viral medication. It really is sad that wealth blinds people from the truth.


BEET ROOT:

1: Cancer Lett. 1996 Feb 27;100(1-2):211-4.

Chemoprevention of lung and skin cancer by Beta vulgaris (beet) root extract.

Kapadia GJ, Tokuda H, Konoshima T, Nishino H.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA.

The in vitro inhibitory effect of Beta vulgaris (beet) root extract on Epstein-Barr virus early antigen (EBV-EA) induction using Raji cells revealed a high order of activity compared to capsanthin, cranberry, red onion skin and short and long red bell peppers. An in vivo anti-tumor promoting activity evaluation against the mice skin and lung bioassays also revealed a significant tumor inhibitory effect. The combined findings suggest that beetroot ingestion can be one of the useful means to prevent cancer.

OLIVE:

PMID: 8620443 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

1: FEBS Lett. 2007 Jun 12;581(14):2737-42. Epub 2007 May 21.

Computational study of bindings of olive leaf extract (OLE) to HIV-1 fusion
protein gp41.

Bao J, Zhang DW, Zhang JZ, Huang PL, Huang PL, Lee-Huang S.

Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.

Recent experimental study found that OLE (olive leaf extract) has anti-HIV activity by blocking the HIV virus entry to host cells [Lee-Huang, S., Zhang, L., Huang, P.L., Chang, Y. and Huang, P.L. (2003) Anti-HIV activity of olive leaf extract (OLE) and modulation of host cell gene expression by HIV-1 infection and OLE treatment. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 307, 1029; Lee-Huang, S., Huang, P.L., Zhang, D., Lee, J.W., Bao, J., Sun, Y., Chang, Y.-Tae, Zhang, J.Z.H. and Huang, P.L. (2007) Discovery of small-molecule HIV-1 fusion and integrase inhibitors oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 354, 872-878, 879-884]. As part of a joint experimental and theoretical effort, we report here computational study to help identify and characterize the binding complexes of several main compounds of OLE (olive leaf extract) to HIV-1 envelop protein gp41. A number of possible binding modes are found by docking oleuropein and its metabolites, aglycone, elenolic acid and hydroxytyrosol, onto the hydrophobic pocket on gp41. Detailed OLE-gp41 binding interactions and free energies of binding are obtained through molecular dynamics simulation and MM-PBSA calculation. Specific molecular interactions in our predicted OLE/gp41 complexes are identified and hydroxytyrosol is identified to be the main moiety for binding to gp41. This computational study complements the corresponding experimental investigation and helps establish a good starting point for further refinement of OLE-based gp41 inhibitors.

LEMON:

PMID: 17537437 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

1: J Biol Chem. 2004 Sep 3;279(36):37349-59. Epub 2004 Jun 24.

Imperatorin inhibits HIV-1 replication through an Sp1-dependent pathway.

Sancho R, Márquez N, Gómez-Gonzalo M, Calzado MA, Bettoni G, Coiras MT, Alcamí J,
López-Cabrera M, Appendino G, Muñoz E.

Departamento de Biología Celular, Fisiología e Inmunología, Universidad de
Córdoba, Facultad de Medicina, Avda. de Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Córdoba, Spain.

Coumarins and structurally related compounds have been recently shown to present anti-human immunodeficiency virus, type 1 (HIV-1) activity. Among them, the dietary furanocoumarin imperatorin is present in citrus fruits, in culinary herbs, and in some medicinal plants. In this study we report that imperatorin inhibits either vesicular stomatitis virus-pseudotyped or gp160-enveloped recombinant HIV-1 infection in several T cell lines and in HeLa cells. These recombinant viruses express luciferase as a marker of viral replication. Imperatorin did not inhibit the reverse transcription nor the integration steps in the viral cell cycle. Using several 5' long terminal repeat-HIV-1 constructs where critical response elements were either deleted or mutated, we found that the transcription factor Sp1 is critical for the inhibitory activity of imperatorin induced by both phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate and HIV-1 Tat. Moreover in transient transfections imperatorin specifically inhibited phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate-induced transcriptional activity of the Gal4-Sp1 fusion protein. Since Sp1 is also implicated in cell cycle progression we further studied the effect of imperatorin on cyclin D1 gene transcription and protein expression and in HeLa cell cycle progression. W e found that imperatorin strongly inhibited cyclin D1 expression and arrested the cells at the G(1) phase of the cell cycle. These results highlight the potential of Sp1 transcription factor as a target for natural anti-HIV-1 compounds such as furanocoumarins that might have a potential therapeutic role in the management of AIDS.


GARLIC:

PMID: 15218031 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

1: Vestn Ross Akad Med Nauk. 1992;(11-12):6-10.

[The ajoene blockade of integrin-dependent processes in an HIV-infected cell
system]

[Article in ]

Tatarintsev AV, Vrzhets PV, Ershov DE, Shchegolev AA, Turgiev AS, Karamov EV,
Kornilaeva GV, Makarova TV, Fedorov NA, Varfolomeev SD.

Ajoene, (E,Z)-4,5,9-trithiadodeca-1,6,11-triene-9-oxide, isolated from extracts of garlic (Allium sativum) has been previously shown to inhibit platelet aggregation by inactivating allosterically the platelet integrin, GP IIb/IIIa. The structural and functional similarity of integrins led the authors to suggest that ajoene may also inhibit adhesive interactions and fusion of leukocytes. Synthetic stereoisomers of ajoene synthesized by the authors exhibited equal antiaggregatory activities (IC100 approximately 50 microM for platelets; IC100 approximately 10 microM for fMLP-stimulated neutrophils). Racemic ajoene inhibited the fusion of H9 cells with HIV-infected H9:RF cells (IC50 approximately 45 microM; 16 h of incubation) and also exhibited a degree of antiviral activity (IC50 approximately 5 microM as assessed by inhibition of HIV-1/CEM/Lav 1 Bru replication in CEM13 cells; m. o. i. 0.1; 72 h). A
considerable increase in the latter became evident when the compound was administered in aliquots of 50 microM per 12 h of incubation (inhibition by 30%; total concentration 0.25 microM; 72 h).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


PMID: 1284227 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

It's proof that an ivy league education doesn't do away with bias, bigotry, and superiority complexes that can blind you to the truth. When there is a real, good, affordable cure, then maybe you can ridicule these sources of medicine, which were the origins of modern medicine anyways. Until then, leave the research alone and stick to whatever you took classes for.

Cheerios: Drugs for breakfast?

Cheerios: Drugs for breakfast?

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Clearly the FDA is corrupt and evil. Oat fiber cereal (proven to lower cholesterol) a drug? Ridiculous.

Please do your part to preserve your freedom and liberty in preserving your health naturally:

Defend DSHEA from going down.

There will be countless arguments by the pill pusher-money cabal to take this down. Then, all your neighborhood grocery stores, drug stores, your Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Aldi(s), and convenience stores will be empty and barren of nature's pharmacy. The tyranny of the greedy will have made your shelves barren of natural medicine, and will force you to pay and pay and pay needlessly for drugs that enrich them, may not work, or may even cause worse problems. This is not freedom, it is slavery.

Please do your part to defend your own freedom.

Enough already with "alternative medicine" and "herbal remedies" labels

Plant medicines were the source of all synthetic, pilled medicines today.

Everything is molecular in nature, so it is no use to call an herb less medicinal than a "small molecule," because both are the same. Herbs contain small molecules, and small molecules exist in "herbs."

Pharmaceutical media tries to minimalize and trivialize "herbal medicine" by trying to coin it as some kind of culinary problem. It isn't. "Herbal medicine" has some very effective medicines, some as powerful if not better than conventional pharmaceuticals, and for far cheaper.

On the other hand, we must be wary of unscrupulous herbal medicine dealers who sell things that are tainted with lead, mercurcy, microbes, and other taints. Those who are dogmatic by either polemic are very suspect in their character and may be more interested in their egos or their position in a hierarchy than actually helping people.

To quote a salesman of the pharmaceutical industry, "We are not interested in curing anyone. We are a business." When I hear anyone say something to the tune of "It's just business," they are proclaiming publicly that they have no soul other than that they have sold in a Faustian deal with the devil. They proclaim that they choose to be venal and perfidious, as opposed to being honest and naked in their dealings with their fellow human beings.

As far as your health goes, I would never be anything less than brutally honest and unbiased, ever looking out for you in an impartial way without judgement. From this standpoint, I can say that it is definitely unfavorable for DSHEA to be voted down by any government official who is conspiring with Pharma business.

Some work I did on Mesenchymal Stem Cell Therapy on the Infarcted Myocardium

"Myocardial survival signaling in response to stem cell transplantation."


Osiris Therapeutics had something going on in this respect. We're talking "too late," and "too far gone," not prevention.