Immunotherapy was predicted to be one of the
most rapidly expanding areas of medical science in this decade.
Proposed advances in our ability to
manipulate the protection offered by the body's own immune system were
going to make humans and animals far healthier and were promising to
increase both the length and quality of life.
Immune agents were going to be our new
defenses against those microorganisms that no longer responded to
antibiotics and diseases from allergies to cancer were going to be subdued
by this new field.
Slow in coming
To date, however, those advances have been
slow in coming. We have not been able to manipulate the body's own
defenses as planned and we have few effective immune
stimulants.
Positive research data has been piling up
concerning the most promising immune agent in years, though, and
immunologists may be finally making good on their earlier
predictions.
Transfer factor, as this new immune compound
is being called, may be the long-awaited "next step" and it may be
everything that was promised.
Richard Bennet Ph.D., an infectious disease
immunologist writes, "It is our ability to create a really healthy immune
system that I think represents the greatest potential gains in health in
the world."
It is the immune system, after all, which
provides humans and animals with the ability to recognize and remember
potentially harmful foreign substances such as bacteria and viruses. The
immune system allows us to then respond to these threatening invaders in
our systems.
Devastatingly familiar
The consequences of conditions of suppressed
or damaged immune systems are devastatingly familiar to
veterinarians.
Arab foals with combined immunodeficiency
complex and older horses with chronic laminitis due to Cushing's
disease-related effects are but two such examples. Respiratory problems in
young foals, allergies, skin infections, and hoof wall diseases are other
problems that can also be related to immune system dysfunction.
A new agent that would vastly improve immune
function in horses would certainly warrant some attention. Transfer factor
promises to be this new agent. It is a component of colostrum and is
produced to be used as a powder added to the diet.
Structure, function
To understand what this colostral derivative
may potentially mean to veterinarians and horses, it is necessary to
briefly review the structure and function of the immune system.
The body has two principal immune defense
systems: humoral and cellular. B-lymphocytes in the liver, spleen, lymph
nodes and bone marrow produce plasma cells that in turn produce antibodies
in the gamma globulin fraction. These immunoglobulins can potentially
recognize huge numbers of antigens. This is the basis of humoral
immunity.
Humoral immunoglobulins are primarily
designed to fight bacterial infections. Lymphocytes that populate the
thymus become responsible for cellular immunity. These cells produce
structures called lymphokines that mediate delayed hypersensitivity or
allergic reactions. They are responsible for rejection of transferred
foreign tissue and for the recognition and rejection of tumor
cells.
The cellular immunity system is responsible
for defense against infections due to viruses, fungi and some types of
bacteria and cancers. Transfer factor stimulates both portions of the
immune system.
In the beginning
In 1949, Dr. H. Sherwood Lawrence, a
researcher working on tuberculosis, found that he could transfer immunity
between patients using fractionated white blood cells. The key ingredient
was a part of the lymphocyte cell, and Lawrence called this component
"transfer factor."
This discovery was not actively pursued for
nearly 30 years until the late '80s. At that time colostrum and milk were
discovered to contain significant amounts of transfer factor. The exact
mechanism of action of transfer factor has never been determined but it is
now known that transfer factor is a lymphokine. The two most notable
lymphokines are interferon and interleukins.
These lymphokines are protein messengers
thought to be released by antigen-sensitized lymphocytes. They play a role
in macrophage activation, lymphocyte transformation (the process of
precursor cells becoming B and T cells), and in cell-mediated immunity.
Transfer factor is one of the most potent messengers and has three
distinct effects on the immune system.
Recognizes antigens
Transfer factor helps the body recognize
antigens.
Dr. M. Metz, a veterinarian consulting for
4LifeResearch, the company which has the patent for extracting transfer
factor from colostrum, points out that 200 mg (one capsule) of transfer
factor has the potential for recognizing at least 100,000 pathogens. Metz
adds that not only can transfer factor be specific for an individual
antigen that a lymphocyte is exposed to, but "transfer factor can also
stimulate a multivalent response."
In this type of response, transfer factor
activates lymphocytes to several strains of an organism.
"This is the really exciting part of
transfer factor from a practicing veterinary standpoint," says
Metz.
4LifeResearch has found that by exposing
cattle to various bacteria and viruses they can produce transfer factor
that will stimulate immunity to other related strains of bacteria and
viruses that are much more pathogenic to other species.
"The other really exciting aspect of
transfer factor," says Metz, "is the time sequence."
Most types of delayed hypersensitivity
immunity, such as that seen with vaccine use, take 10 to 14 days to
develop. Transfer factor, according to Metz, activates that same immunity
in 24 hours!
Natural killer
Transfer factor is also a natural killer
cell inductor. These cells are non-specific attack cells that seek out and
destroy infected or malignant cells and cells infected by
viruses.
Transfer factor increases natural killer
cell activity five times over normal rates and it is non-species specific.
It is believed that this aspect of transfer factor is related to the
significant improvements seen in certain cancer patients that have taken
this product. Multiple sclerosis patients have also shown
improvements.
Transfer factor in cats, dogs, horses, cows
and humans is virtually identical structurally and completely identical
functionally. This has helped in the production of this product since cows
can produce large quantities of colostrum that is then used for extraction
of transfer factor.
A number of companies are producing
colostrum and claiming that these products contain transfer factor. While
this is true, only 4LifeResearch has the exclusive patent on the process
to extract only transfer factor. This process allows for the concentrated
and purified production of transfer factor.
Suppresses immune function
Transfer factor is also a suppressor of
immune function.
It is paradoxical that the same product can
both stimulate and suppress immune function but transfer factor function
depends on the specific antigens and the status of the immune response.
Transfer factor can stimulate the release of T suppressor cells when
"down" regulation is necessary due to over activity. Autoimmune diseases,
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and allergic reactions are
situations where the body's own immune response has over-responded
(cytokine storm) to antigenic stimulation. Transfer factor works in these
situations because it can slow down this overactive response.
Obvious advantages
While discussions of the immune system tend
to be fairly technical, the practical advantages of a potent new immune
stimulating treatment are obvious.
The ability to stimulate the horse's body to
attack and destroy bacteria and viruses will reduce the amount and types
of antibiotics that may need to be used by veterinarians. It is important
to try to retain those antibiotics that are available to veterinarians and
to use them in a way that will maintain their effectiveness for as long as
possible.
If veterinarians can stimulate a better
immune response to respiratory bacteria, skin pathogens and various
viruses, then the need to use antibiotics is lessened. If transfer factor
can produce such boosts in immunity in 24 hours then the potential for use
as a pre-travel protectant, or a post-exposure treatment is
tremendous.
Horses suffering from other diseases such as
Cushing's disease, laminitis, colitis, cancers ranging from sarcoids to
melanomas and reproductive conditions such as chronic metritis, may all
benefit from transfer factor use. This product may indeed be the
long-awaited next step and the field of immunotherapy may finally fulfill
its promise.