Recent (with summaries)

An WW, Kanazawa Y, Ozawa M, Nakaya K, Saito T, Tanaka A, Bradley WG. Dendritic cell differentiation and tumor cell apoptosis induced by components of a poly-phenylpropanoid polysaccharide complex. Anticancer Res. 2010 Feb;30(2):613-22. PubMed PMID: 20332479.

Summary:

This paper describes the results of collaboration between TBRI and Dr. Kazuyasu Nakaya’s laboratory in Niigata University, Japan. The findings published in this article are an extension of the our first publication (Bradley et al, 2003) that described the ability of the pine cone extract to enhance the development of human dendritic cells, cells critical for the initiation of immune responses against invading pathogens, cancer cells, and vaccines. In this paper we describe the discovery of two distinctive activities within the pine cone extract. The first activity, found to be restricted to a fraction containing rather large molecules, is associated with an ability to induce the generation and maturation of dendritic cells derived from murine bone marrow. The second activity discovered was found to be contained within a fraction consisting of much smaller molecules. The activity in this fraction is associated with the ability to induce programmed cell death (apoptosis) in several human cancer cell lines. This means that the pine cone extract could potentially induce cell death in tumor or infected cells and then activate dendritic cells that could initiate an immune response against the tumor or infection.

Burrows M, Assundani D, Celis E, Tufaro F, Tanaka A, Bradley WG. Oral administration of PPC enhances antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses while reducing IgE levels in sensitized mice. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2009 Nov 30;9:49. PubMed PMID: 19948039; PubMed PMCID: PMC2794845.

Summary:

This research was a collaborative effort between the scientists at TBRI and those in Dr. Esteban Celis’s laboratory at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. This publication describes two major discoveries regarding the oral administration of the pine cone extract. First, we demonstrated that the extract can significantly enhance the vaccine-induced production of cytotoxic T cells, cells capable of killing cancer cells and virally infected cells, and second, we discovered that the continuous (daily) administration of the extract can significantly suppress the generation of allergy-associated antibodies (IgE). Both of these findings might help explain why we have received so many reports from persons using the commercial extract (Immune Extra) that they have experienced positive results in their fight against a variety of cancers, chronic viral infections, and in their attempts to control their allergies.

Bradley WG, Widen RH, Weiser AM, Powers JJ, Fountain LB, Punjwani P, Lofgren SM, Hadzic T, Klein R, Green WH, Tanaka A. The novel differentiation of human blood mononuclear cells into CD1a-negative dendritic cells is stimulated in the absence of exogenous cytokines by an extract prepared from pinecones. Int Immunopharmacol. 2003 Feb;3(2):209-23. PubMed PMID: 12586602.

Summary:

This publication describes our finding that in the presence of the pinecone extract human a particular type of human white blood cell can be converted into dendritic cells, the master controllers of the immune system. This might explain why the extract works to enhance anticancer and antiviral immune responses.