"Searching for a Supervaccine"
Leslie R Guttman, San Francisco Chronicle
"Scientists turn to primitive side of human immune system to develop a single drug to battle an array of biological weapons."
With recent events bringing biological warfare to the forefront, scientists are working on a "universal drug" that would work more efficiently than vaccines. The proposed drug would stimulate the immune system to fight off a wide range of threats including anthrax, smallpox, botulism, and Ebola. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, a government agency created during the Cold War is very interested. The drug would target the "innate immune system." The article states that this "first line of defense" includes the skin, neutrophils, macrophages, and "natural killer cells." Macrophages and neutrophils destroy pathogens by engulfing them, whereas "natural killer cells" seek out pathogens and kill them by releasing toxins. The innate immune system is contrasted with the adaptive immune system, which is explained to be the second line of defense, and the more commonly known anti-body producing cells.
Three different lines of study are being followed in this area. Ken Alibek is working on proteins called cytokines. These proteins act as messengers to activate macrophages and "natural killer cells" in the respiratory tract where exposure first begins. He foresees his product being available in two to three years, in nasal spray and pill form. These products would prolong life after exposure until specialized medical treatment can be sought. A second study, created by Dr Andrew Weil is testing medicinal mushrooms as immune system boosters. He claims that polysaccharides contained in the mushrooms act to alert the immune system to the danger introduced by pathogens, and to "gear it up" for the fight. A third line of study, headed by Roger Loria, is testing the effects of steroids against the threat of nuclear radiation. Loria is working with androstenes, which break down naturally into progesterone, estrogen, and immune-regulating hormones. He has shown that 70% of mice exposed to radiation levels comprable to Hiroshima were protected when the steroids increased their bodies ability to produce infection fighting cells and blood clotting factors that are normally depleted by radiation. Evidentally, there is widespread interest and funding for immune system research.
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