AHCC increases NK cell activity

[heapsreal]

The natural killer (NK) cell activity blood test is useful in predicting the prognosis of a cancer patient. The purpose of this in-office, nonrandomized open-label trial was to determine whether four different dietary supplements commonly sold in health food stores and over the Internet, consistently and statistically affected NK cell activity in cancer patients. Thirty-four patients were assigned to one of four groups: Group A was given 1-3g/day of modified arabinoxylane with meals. Group B was given 6000mg/day of coriolus mushroom. Group C was given 4g/day of antigen-infused dialyzable bovine colostrum/whey extract and group D was given 3-6g/day of active hexose correlated compound (AHCC). NK cell activities were assessed before treatment and after an average of 16 weeks of therapy. AHCC was the only supplement that consistently and statistically increased NK cell activity. The average increase was 249%. Modified arabinoxylane statistically increased NK cell activity, but did not consistently help every patient. No side effects were encountered during the study period in any of the four groups.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_259-260/ai_n12417488/

The above study says 3-6grams of AHCC a day to improve nk function, wow that can work out to be very expensive.
Iherb have a well priced AHCC product 500mg x 30 caps for 18.95, 3 grams a day for a month is $106 and 6 grams a day for a month is $212. To me its not overly expensive but when put on top of everything else i take it really adds up. I did price immunovir at $300 for 10 weeks, so i suppose the price between the two arent that different. Maybe need to start a piggy bank and start saving.

There are alot of good studies on AHCC, its on my wish list. I think beating back infections as well as improving nk function are the way to go but its not cheap thats for sure.

cheers!!!

 

[adreno]

Are we sure this is safe, WRT autoimmunity? Does it stimulate B cells?

And how does it compare with other immune modulators, like beta glucan or epicor?

 

[adreno]

I also wonder how a mushroom mix, like the following, would compare:

http://www.iherb.com/Madre-Labs-MushRex-Plus-Mushroom-Complex-with-Immune-Assist-120-Vcaps/26739

http://www.iherb.com/Source-Naturals-Mushroom-Immune-Defense-16-Mushroom-Complex-60-Tablets/1472

The price is very good, and you get the full spectrum of mushroom nutrients.

 

[jstefl]

I recently purchased some AHCC from Vitacost. They had a buy one, get one half price deal. I bought the 1000 mg capsules in bottles of 30 capsules each. I paid $ 26.99 for the first bottle and half of that for the second. The shipping was free, making the cost about $ .67 per capsule. That would make it a total of $ $ 2.02 a day for three a day, or $ 4.04 for six a day. For 30 days, that would be $60.60 to $121.20 a month.

John

 

[heapsreal]

Are we sure this is safe, WRT autoimmunity? Does it stimulate B cells?

And how does it compare with other immune modulators, like beta glucan or epicor?

I dont know if i would class cfs as an autoimmune problem although some do have auto immune issues. I think cfs is more an immune defiency. Auto immune drugslike ritux are used in cfs not because b-cells are being attacked by our own immune system but by depleting b-cells it switches other parts of our imune system on to work better like nk cells and t-cells.
If something is hsown to work on improving nk function then i think it is getting closer to the cause of cfs as this is one of the distinguishing abnormalities found in most cfs people, a pity that this type of testing is not available to more people. It should be or maybe in the future be apart of diagnosing me/cfs

 

[xrayspex]

that is interesting
heaps do you get your nk cell function tested within the mainstream? just curious what tests and how available....

 

[heapsreal]

that is interesting
heaps do you get your nk cell function tested within the mainstream? just curious what tests and how available....

not sure what u mean by main stream, the test i get isnt commercially available yet and its through a research study.
http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/pdf/1479-5876-9-81.pdf This is apart of the study i was involved in. I think these were the results they had halfway through the study as the study only finished in January this year