Inhibitory effect of BioBran on regulatory T cell proliferation

Cancer Theapy Vol.6, page 1011-1016, 2008
Paolo Lissoni et al.

Regulatory T cells (Treg) are cells that are responsible for suppression of the immune response against the self (immune tolerance) to prevent autoimmune and other diseases. In the treatment of cancer, proliferation of Tregs in some patients may cause supression of anti-cancer immunity, making it difficult to obtain effective anti-tumor responses. This study evaluated the effect of BioBran intake on changes in the number of Tregs and other subpopulations in 22 cancer patients.

The study included 22 cancer patients, 16 of whom had untreatable metastatic solid tumors. BioBran was administered orally at a dosage of 2 g/day for the first month, followed by 1 g/day for the next month. The numbers of T lymphocytes (CD3+), T helper (Th) cells (CD4+), cytotoxic T cells (CD8+), NK cells (CD16+CD56+), Treg cells (CD4+CD25+), and Th/Treg ratio of each patient were measured before and 2 months after treatment.

The results showed that the mean number of Treg cells decreased and the mean number of Th cells increased after BioBran treatment. Also Th/Treg ratio increased significantly after treatment compared to the baseline (Figure). This indicates that BioBran inhibits the proliferation of Tregs and may enhance the anti-cancer immunity.

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