Equine and Livestock Immune System Modulators

We are proud to announce that the magazine "The Horse" has been so impressed with our Transfer Factor Equine Products that they have mentioned us in their magazine article on the equine immune system, March 2002 issue. Due to the length of the original article Dr. Mac Barksdale has written condensed version for our site.

The equine immune system, which is designed to protect a horse from invading pathogens, is extremely complex. When everything is functioning in synchrony, the system works well.

The problem is that many things can compromise the immune system, and when that happens, the horse is at an increased risk of developing disease.
Often one (or more) of three key elements are at the root of the problem when the immune system becomes compromised, says Glen Gamble, DVM, of Riverton, Wyo.

They are stress, nutrition, and age.

When a horse is stressed, more nutrients are required and those available may not be in the proper proportion for the stressful situation.
Stress can be by fatigue, putting all strength into a performance or a race. As a person or a horse in this case ages his health is less resilient this is due mainly to a reduced capability of the immune system.

Fighting the Invaders :
in the following example
The island is the animal or human body.
The enemies are parasites, bacteria, virus particles, toxins from organisms, and yes even cancer cells.

Some one likened the immune system while protecting the body from invasion (by disease producing organisms) to that of an "Island" from which "enemies" are to be expelled and if possible prevented from ever entering in the first place.

For example
Imagine that the "Coast Watchers" announce to the Island Army and Navy that Invaders are coming!

The Navy presumes them to be enemy ships. The Navy sends out all their submarines loaded with all the torpedo's they have available.

It turns out that the approaching invaders are "Enemy Aircraft Bombers". The submarines become frustrated at not being able to find the enemy "Ships" and in their enthusiasm begin shooting tornados at each other.

Unchallenged the enemy Bombers damage the "island terribly" and may even "kill" it!
While the submarines have killed off each other. Not good!

By this illustration one can see that to be effective an immune system must be able to recognize an invading organism and use the proper weapons against it.

Who are these enemies and how are they dealt with?
Think of an antigen as a foreign invader, or disease causing organism. Once observed and dealt with the antigen can be recognized when seen again.

Vanguards and Transfer Factors:
Factors are cytokines or biochemical messengers that "teach" and "train" the immune system to recognize an invading organism and "what weapon" to use against that organism.

Among those invaders may be parasites, bacteria, virus particles, toxins from organisms, and yes even cancer cells !

First, of course, the system must recognize that it is under attack and identify the attacker. Think back to our Island illustration, to be effective the defense system must recognize and attack "enemy aircraft" differently than it does "enemy ships". So there is a great advantage in being able to prepare the body defense system before an attack. Recognizing the attacker and "remembering" to use the proper weapon is of great importance.

It is up to two systems to come up with the appropriate weapons through the production of specific antibodies or cells that are capable of eliminating the antigens.The antibody-forming system or the cell-mediated immune system.

Gentlemen start your engines!

There are four important functions of the immune system:

A method of trapping and processing antigens
A mechanism for reacting specifically to the specific antigen
Cells to produce antibodies or to participate in the cell-mediated immune response
Cells to retain memory and to react specifically in the future.

Antigens are trapped, processed, and eventually eliminated by cells known as macrophages. Lymphocytes (cells that originate from stem cells and differentiate in lymphoid tissue such as the thymus or bone marrow) also function as memory cells and therefore initiate a secondary immune response. · The cells that mediate the cell-mediated responses are also identified as lymphocytes while antibody-producing cells are derived from lymphocytes and are known as plasma cells.

Recruiting soldiers in Peacetime

The complexity of a horse's immune response is that he must permit access of necessary nutrients and oxygen, while at the same time excluding potentially dangerous organisms, such as bacteria, parasites, and viruses.

Another challenge is that if the body is going to reject foreign invaders, it must tolerate or recognize its own cells as being autologous or "not-foreign." If such recognition does not occur, the animal will suffer from autoimmune disease, which means that antibodies or lymphocytes destroy normal cells in an effort to eliminate the offending organisms.

An example of this is Auto Immune Hemolytic Anemia in the horse where the horse's own red blood cells are destroyed by his immune system.
Also some believe that when we unravel the mystery of Laminitis an autoimmune condition will be found.

Lymphocytes are divided into two identities B cells and T cells.
The two cell types play different roles.

B cells -are thymus-independent, migrating to the tissues without passing through or being influenced by the thymus. They play a major role in humoral (found in body fluids) immunity. When stimulated by an antigen, they mature into plasma cells that synthesize humoral antibody.

T cells- are thymus-dependent they either pass through the thymus or are influenced by it as they travel toward the tissues. They can kill such cells as tumor and transplant tissue cells. T cells are largely responsible for cell-mediated immunity.

Lymph nodes-These round or bean-shaped structures are strategically placed on lymphatic channels in such a way that they can trap antigens being carried through the lymph, which is a transparent,slightly yellow liquid found in lymphatic vessels and derived from tissue fluid. In essence, lymph nodes filter antigens from lymph fluid.

How Vaccines Work

Simply put, vaccination involves a person administering to the horse an antigen derived from an infectious agent so that an immune response is mounted and resistance to that infectious agent is achieved.

It was also learned that the substances that provided disease resistance could be found in blood serum. For example, if serum obtained from a horse which was vaccinated against tetanus toxin is injected into a normal horse, the normal horse will become resistant to tetanus for a short period of time. Serum derived from an immune horse in this way is known as tetanus immune globulin or tetanus antitoxin, and it is used today in the prevention of tetanus.

Compromising the system

In stressed animals,there often will be increased steroid production, which tends to suppress the immune system.

If horses are malnourished this negatively impacts cell production. Even the well-fed horse can be at risk of suppression of the immune system if his diet doesn't contain the necessary micro- and macro-minerals. Micro-minerals include such elements as zinc, copper, cobalt, selenium, and manganese, while macro-minerals include calcium, phosphorus, and magnesium.

Age can have an effect at both ends of the spectrum. The very young and the very old. In the very young horse, the immune system is in a developmental stage, and in the old horse, its capabilities are diminished as part of the aging process.

PROMOTING GOOD HEALTH

Human doctors and veterinarians long have known that there are adjuncts they can use in the treatment of a patient that can help promote good health.

Among these treatments are vitamins and additives used to stimulate the immune system in the expectation that the person's or animal's body will then be better able to fight off illness and disease.

Grandmother said "Eat your vegetables" and she was RIGHT!

A newcomer to animal medicine is something called transfer factor.

Discovered in the 1949, it was not much used in human medicine due to the cost and complexity of preparation. Transfer factor will improve and regulate the immune system in other species, including humans.

For Cytokines, as Transfer Factors are properly named are non species specific. That is they are the same for people and all the animals.

Human medical doctors have used transfer factor in situations as simple as a cold or flu, and as complicated as cancer and AIDS. >

Horse owners are advised to discuss their horses' health with their veterinarians before implementing management changes.

Since transfer factor is so new to large and small animal medicine, the company that holds the patent on transfer factor has help numbers available. Please contact the person who sent you to this page they will be able to get you in touch with the vet that can best answer your questions.

Links to more information on transfer factor and Equine information

These products are not intended to cure or treat disease. It is designed to enhance immune system function to optimal levels. The immune system enhancement is responsible for any clinical improvements.