Effects of Glucan on Immunosuppressive Actions of Mercury

"The well-established negative effects of mercury on the immune system led us to the study whether natural immunomodulator glucan can overcome the immunosuppressive effects of mercury. Two types of mercury,thimerosal and mercury acetate, were administered in a dose of 2–8mg/L of drinking water to mice. After 2 weeks, all mice exhibited profound suppression of both cellular (phagocytosis, natural killer cell activity, mitogen-induced proliferation, and expression of CD markers) and humoral (antibody formation and secretion of interleukin-6, interleukin-12, and interferon-γ) responses. The mice were then fed with a diet containing a standard dose of glucan.

Our results showed that simultaneous treatment with mercury and glucan resulted in significantly lower immunotoxic effects of mercury, which suggests that glucans can be successfully used as a natural remedy of low-level exposure to mercury." 

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A Comparison of Injected and Orally Administered β-glucans

"Our data showed strong differences in activities of individual glucans, with glucan yeast-derived #300 being the best"

"All glucans increased expression of CD4, but this effect was long-lasting only in the case of #300"

"When compared to stimulation with Con A, #300 showed stronger effects"

"glucan #300 was again a highly active glucan with a sufficiently broad range of action"

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 An Evaluation of the Immunological Activities of Commercially Available Beta 1,3-Glucans

"Glucan #300 showed not only a broad range of action, but in all tested reactions (with the exception of the antibody formation where it was the second most active sample) was the biologicall most relevant immunomodulator"

"Several conclusions can be made:  1)  Not all glucans are created equal;  2) some of the commercial glucans have surprisingly low activity;  3) most glucans differ in biological effects based on tested characteristics;  and 4)  for good results in immunomodulation, it is more imperitive to find a glucan from a solid vendor who is able to back the claims with solid scientific data."

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Complement receptor 3, not Dectin-1, is the major receptor on human neutrophils for Beta-glucan-bearing particles

Complement receptor 3 (CR3) is a human macrophage cell surface receptor that recognizes C3b when bound to the surface of foreign cells. Binding to the receptor causes phagocytosis and destruction of the foreign cell.  This receptor is the binding site for Beta glucan, resulting in a beneficial cascade of immune reactions including increased cell mobility and effectiveness, balance of white blood cell population, and balance of undesirable overreactive immune responses.

Similar to CR3, Dectin-1is also a receptor that serves as a binding site for beta glucan, although Dectin-1is indispensable for recognition of β-glucan-bearing particles in mice
neutrophils, it is not the major receptor for yeast particles in human neutrophils.

Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cell.  They account for 50%-70% of all white blood cells, and form an essential part of the innate immune system.  Neutrophils are not normally involved in the fight against cancer because they do not recognize cancer cells as a threat.  However, when beta glucan binds to the CR3 of a neutrophil, it enables these immune cells to be more easily attracted to a cancer cell, and attack can attack cancer as if it were yeast (a foreign substance).  This is a novel new method of engaging the body's own defenses in the fight against cancer.

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Beta Glucan Published Research