Table 2 Summary of clinical studies on the effect of larch arabinogalactan on the immune system
From: Does larch arabinogalactan enhance immune function? A review of mechanistic and clinical trials
Article | Extract | Challenge (Vaccine) | Subjects | Day for the measures | Parameters measured | Results: effect of the extract on parameters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Udani et al. 2013 [32] | ResistAid™ Proprietary larch arabinogalactan 1.5 or 4.5 g/day For 60 days | Tetanus & influenza vaccines Vaccination at day 30 | 75 healthy adults | Day 0, 45 & 60 | ➢ Tetanus IgG | Group 1.5 g/day, day 60: significant rise in IgG levels compared to placebo (p = 0.008) Group 4.5 g/day group, day 45 & 60: significant rise in IgG levels compared to baseline (p < 0.01) but not compared to placebo |
➢ Influenza A & B IgG & IgM | No effect | |||||
Riede et al. 2013 [30] | ResistAid™ Proprietary larch arabinogalactan 4.5 g/day For 84 days | None | 199 healthy adults | Common cold episode | Reduce the incidence of common cold infection (p = 0.055) Reduce the number of subject affected (p = 0.038) Increase of the severity of symptoms (p = 0.028) No effect on the duration of the common cold episodes | |
Udani et al. 2010 [31] | ResistAid™ Proprietary larch arabinogalactan 4.5 g/day For 72 days | Streptococcus pneumonia Vaccination at day 30 | 45 healthy adults | Day 0, 51 & 72 | ➢ Pneumococcal IgG (subtypes 4, 6B, 9 V, 14, 18C, 19 F & 23 F) | Significant rise in IgG levels compared to placebo in 2 antibodies subtypes (18C & 23 F) at day 51 (p = 0.006 and p = 0.002) and day 72 (p = 0.008 and p = 0.041) |
➢ Pneumococcal salivary IgA | No effect | |||||
Day 0, 30, 31, 51 & 72 | ➢ WBCa count | No significant difference compared to placebo At day 72, rise in WBC compared to baseline (p = 0.045) No differences (clinically significant) in lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes or basophiles count Significant rise of eosinophil count at day 30 (p = 0.006) and day 51 (p = 0.014) | ||||
➢ Inflammatory cytokinesa: ENA-78, eotaxin, GM-CSF, IFNγ, IL10, IL12P40, IL1RA, IL2, IL4, IL5, IL6, IL8, MCP-1, MCP-3, PDGF-BB & TNF-α | Significant rise in IL6 between day 30 and 31 compared to placebo (p = 0.046) | |||||
➢ Complement C3 & C4 | No effect | |||||
Nantz et al. 2001 [28] | Arabinogalactan 4 g/day For 42 days | None | 51 healthy adults | Day 1, 21 & 42 | ➢ Haematology: WBCa, RBCa, haemoglobin, hematocrit, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets ➢ Count of CD19 B lymphocytes, CD4 T helper lymphocyte, CD8 T cytotoxic lymphocytes & NK1.1 natural killer cells ➢ PBMCa (lymphocytes) proliferation after exposure to PMA ➢ PMNa for oxidative burst activity ➢ Natural killer cells activity ➢ IgaG | Significant increase of % CD8+ cells at 6 weeks after arabinogalactan compared to control group (p = 0.005) Significant increase in lymphocyte proliferation at 6 weeks compared to baseline in the arabinogalactan group (p < 0.05) only Significant effect of group detected on proportion of monocytes in the lymphocytes fraction (p = 0.0497), though no significant groupatime effect detected (p = 0.602). No significant change in IgG levels, respiratory burst activity of neutrophils, NK cell number and B cell number. |
Kim et al. 2002 [27] | Larch arabinogalactan (90 %) 1.5 g/day For 28 days | None | 48 healthy female adults | Day 0 & 28 | ➢ Vital signs: blood pressure, radial pulse, respiration rate, temperature | No effect |
➢ Complete blood count: WBC, neutrophils, lymphocytes & monocytes | No effect | |||||
➢ NK cells quantitative | No effect | |||||
➢ Complement properdin | No effect | |||||
➢ TNF-α | Significant decrease (p = 0.044) | |||||
➢ EBV VCA IgG Ab ➢ CMV IgG Ab | No effect No effect | |||||
➢ Lactobacillus acidophilus stool culture ➢ Stool fungus culture for yeast | No effect No effect | |||||
➢ Health related quality of life (SF-36) | Increase of the bowel movement (75 % of the subjects affected) | |||||
Kim et al. 2002 [12] | Larch arabinogalactan (90 %) – different concentration grades 1.5 & 4.5 g/day For 28 days | None | 21 healthy adults | Day 0 & 28 | ➢ Haematology: WBCa, RBCa, haemoglobin, hematocrit, monocytes | No effect |
➢ TNF-α ➢ IFN-γ ➢ IL6 | No effect No effect No effect | |||||
➢ Stool culture | No effect | |||||
➢ Health related quality of life (SF-36) | No effect |