Immune
System Enhancement:
The Need and Role for Transfer Factors
Richard H. Bennett, M.S. Ph.D.
Comparative Pathologist
For
decades, the approach to maintaining health was to wait for
signs and symptoms of disease to occur and to counter the challenge
with an array of drugs, which were toxic for the disease-causing
agent. This approach is now being questioned as the armada
of drugs is diminishing due to multiple drug resistant pathogens.
Compounding this alarming trend is the current approach to health maintenance,
which assumes that "all is well" until actual disease processes begin. By this
time, the disease is established, sometimes irreversibly, and the damage has
occurred.
So
the question arises…What if a new paradigm existed? Could it
be possible to optimize the immune status so that (1) disease
is much less likely to occur and (2) if disease does occur,
it's severity and duration is minimized? The answer is yes
and this paradigm shift is being engineered by small, naturally
occurring protein-like molecules called TRANSFER FACTORS.
Transfer
factors were discovered in 1949 by dialyzing leukocytes. When
this dialyzed extract was taken from a donor resistant to a
specific pathogen and injected into a naïve recipient, the
resistance was transferred - hence, transfer factor. For years,
the use of transfer factors in veterinary medicine was limited.
This occurred for 2 main reasons. Transfer factors were expensive
and arduous to produce and the "golden age of antibiotics" was
in full bloom. Fortunately, the research continued, taking
a quantum leap forward when it was discovered that bovine colostrum
contained not only antibodies to bovine diseases, but also
an array of non-species specific transfer factors.
Less
than 20 years ago, the ability of colostrum to do more than
provide passive immune protection via maternal antibodies became
an interest of veterinary scientists. We observed a myriad
of lymphocytic cells in the normal mammary gland secretions
of the cow. We pondered their function and what role they may
have in the health of the newborn calf. It is now increasingly
clear that these lymphocytic cells produce an array of factors
and among them are molecules that have the ability to selectively
enhance immune function and provide specific information to
be transferred to the newborn's immune system.
More
recently, transfer factors have been divided into three distinct
classifications. Inducer Fraction, Antigen Specific Fractions and
Suppressor Fractions.
- INDUCER
FRACTIONS: One of the biologic
fractions of transfer factor molecules is to selectively
enhance immune surveillance. This enhancement is made
possible by the INDUCER fraction. The inducer fraction
acts on the Natural Killer Cells (NK Cells). The NK Cells'
task is to seek out cells that have been altered by microbes
and to destroy them. The NK cells have a similar protective
role in preventing malignant tumors from developing.
The Inducer fraction also influences the overall immune
response by increasing the functionality of the T Helper
Lymphocytes. They are critical for a balanced immune
response and redirect the immune response for the production
of cytotoxic T Cells. This is critical for the resolution
of most infections.
- ANTIGEN
SPECIFIC FRACTIONS: These transfer
factors act in two ways to educate the immune system
to respond quickly when confronted with an infectious
threat. One is a response to a specific pathogen common
to several species, i.e., Cryptosporidium protozoal infections.
The second response is so similar pathogens, i.e., Herpes
virus infections that differ from species to species.
This finding has been greeted with enthusiasm by researchers.
It suggests that transfer factors may educate the immune
system for an array of related, but not identical, infectious
agents.
- SUPPRESSOR
FRACTIONS: In each and every
physiological system there are checks and balances, and
the process of achieving balance is called homeostasis.
Once a threat has been confronted and a sufficient response
has occurred, there is the need to down-regulate so that
the immune system response can return to a resting state
and conserve its resources for the next inevitable challenge.
The SUPPRESSOR transfer factors are responsible for this
effort by signaling the T Helper Lymphocytes and the
Cytotoxic T Cells to reduce their activity and to return
to a more quiescent state. This is critical, as there
is a multitude examples where microbes have hidden in
specific tissues and the immune response mistakenly becomes
directed toward those tissues, leading to autoimmune
diseases. The Suppressor fractions appear to be nature's
way of limiting over zealous immune response and to provide
the body with a tool for protecting "self" from an inappropriate
immune response.
It
is difficult to embrace a new idea while clinging to an old
one. Yet, this intent to optimize health as the primary focus
of medicine is a laudable goal and nothing short of revolutionary.
Such a revolution is occurring as the biology and benefits
of transfer factors are coming to the forefront as both preventive
and interventional tools in animal health. n Dr. Richard Bennett
holds a doctorate in Comparative Pathology from the University
of California Davis. His work in this area includes basic and
applied research in infectious disease microbiology and immunology
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