Transfer factor and allergy.

Abstract

Although various mechanisms involving antibodies and various cell types participate, a Thl and Th2 cells imbalance seems to play a central role for allergy development. Other lymphocyte subpopulations, such as Th17, CD4 FOXP3, and Th9 positive regulatory T lymphocytes may also be involved in the allergic response. Regulatory processes are an appealing target for therapeutic approaches aiming to solve allergic reactions by restoring the delicate balance within the immune system. Transfer factor (TF) or dialyzable leukocyte extract is meant to transfer cell-mediated immunity from immune competent donors to unsensitized or deficient recipients. A PubMed search on the current knowledge on TF indicates that TF may restore the Th1/Th2 balance and improve immune regulatory mechanisms of patients receiving it. Our preliminary results demonstrate that TF induces mRNA expression of IFN-g, osteopontin, RANTES, and hBD-2 in human healthy subjects. TF has been used to treat a variety of immune dysfunction related-pathologies, such as allergy, autoimmunity, immunodeficiencies, infectious diseases and tumors. Patients receiving TF together with their conventional treatment often have better clinical evolution than without it, as we have witnessed, adding TF to the usual medical treatment of allergic diseases as an attempt to provide allergic patients with those regulatory elements that they apparently lack but require to achieve properly regulated immune responses and thus obtain a faster and better resolution of allergic reactions.

• Authors: Javier Gómez Vera, Raúl Chávez Sánchez, Graciela Flores Sandoval, Modesto Orea Solano, José Jesús López Tiro, A D Santiago Santos, Sara Espinosa Padilla, Francisco Espinosa Rosales, J Huerta, José Antonio Ortega Martell, Renato Berrón Pérez, Alejandro Estrada García, Mayra Pérez Tapia, Azucena Rodríguez Flores, Ernestina Serrano Miranda, Oscar Pineda García, Consuelo Andaluz, Edgar Cervantes Trujano, Abraham Portugués Díaz, Javier Barrientos Zamudio, Laura Cano Ortíz, Jeanet Serafín López, María Del Carmen Jiménez Martínez, Gustavo Aguilar Velázquez, Yonathan Garfias Becerra, Concepción Santacruz Valdéz, Daniel Aguilar Ángeles, María Isabel Rojo Guiérrez, Miguel Aguilar Santelises, Sergio Estrada Parra
• Journal: Revista alergia Mexico (Tecamachalco, Puebla, Mexico : 1993) (Rev Alerg Mex) 2010 Nov-Dec Vol. 57 Issue 6 Pg. 208-14 ISSN: 0002-5151 [Print] Mexico
• PMID: 21944489 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Cytokines
• Transfer Factor

Topics

• CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes
• Cytokines
• Humans
• Hypersensitivity (immunology)
• Immunity, Cellular
• T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory
• Th2 Cells
• Transfer Factor