 In 1900, Emil baron von Dungern1,2 showed that baker?s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) interacted with complement, a serum protein system involved in the destruction of infecting organisms. Forty years later Dr. Louis Pillemer of what is now Case Western Reserve University found that the active component of yeast was an insoluble cell wall fraction known as beta 1,3/1,6 glucan.3 The same fraction interacted with properdin, another serum protein (Pillemer et al., 1955), which is also involved in killing infectious organisms.4 Scientific understanding was expanded in the late 1950s by Dr. Baruj Benacerraf, who went on to win the 1980 Nobel Prize in Medicine for studies of the immune system. Dr. Benaceraf and his colleagues demonstrated that beta glucan had dramatic effect in stimulating the reticuloendothelial system,5 a diffuse system of immune cells that circulate throughout the body. Other researchers showed that beta glucan protecting animals against experimental infection. More research followed that confirmed the efficacy of beta glucan to protect animals against a wide range of pathogenic challenges. In the 1980s, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology began developing pharmaceutical applications for beta glucan. They formed Alpha Beta Technology, which invested more than $200 million in beta glucan development. The patent portfolio of Alpha Beta was later purchased by Biopolymer Engineering, the maker of Life Source Basics. The company now owns more than 200 U.S. and international patents relating to the composition, manufacturing and applications of yeast beta glucan. Biopolymer Engineering continues to expand beta glucan research with recent published studies on cancer, anthrax and hematopoietic recovery. For independent lab test results for Life Source Basics Immune System Support, click here. To order Life Source Basics Immune System Support, click here. References: 1 Von Dungern, E. (1900). Munch. Med. Woch. 47: 677.
2 Chemistry and biology of 1,3-beta-Glucans. Edited by: Bruce A Stone and Adrienne E. Clarke La Trobe University Press, 1992, Australia
3 Pillemer, L. and Ecker, E.E. Anticomplementary factor in fresh yeast. J. Biol. Chem. 137, 139-142 (1941)
4 Ecker, E. E., Pillemer, L., Griffiths, J. J. & Schwartz. W. P. Journal of The American Medical Association. Vol. 112, 1939, p. 1449.
5 Benacerraf B, Sebestyen MM. Effect of bacterial endotoxins on the reticuloendothelial system. Fed Proc 1957; 16: 860-867. |
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