Talk Cancer

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Blue Green Algae In the July 7th issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Dr. Michael R.  Boyd of the National Cancer Institute (USA) reports on the discovery of a protein extracted from blue-green algae that has been shown to inactivate HIV in test tubes. According to researchers, the protein cyanovirin-N (CV-N) not only irreversibly inactivates diverse strains of HIV-1 and HIV-2, it also inhibits cell-to-cell as well as virus-to-cell transmission of the virus. In addition, the researchers state that exposure to high concentrations of CV-N was not toxic to uninfected cells.

You really are a pathetic excuse for a human being.  You’ll use any connection, no matter how irrelevant or tenuous, to push your pond scum. I know that most HIV+ persons would be able to see through your transparent attempt to push product, and would recognize the irrelevance of your posting, but you obviously have no compunctions about attempting to prey on the desperate.  You sicken me.   — David Wright :: wright at ibnets.com :: Not a Spokesman for Anyone      These are my opinions only, but they’re almost always correct.      While the unexamined life may not be worth living, the over-      examined life is not being lived.

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Blue Green Algae Michael R.  Boyd of the National Cancer Institute (USA) reports on the discovery of a protein extracted from blue-green algae that has been shown to inactivate HIV in test tubes. According to researchers, the

Here’s some more information about the wonderful chemicals in the algae you are selling. THE MICROCYSTINS MEMORANDUM Copyright 1997, 1998 Mark Thorson Super Blue Green (registered trademark, Cell Tech brand) algae is the species known as _Aphanizomenon_flos-aquae_. The remainder of this file is divided into five parts: I.    What are microcystins? II.   Where do microcystins come from? III.  What do microcystins do? IV.   Is any level of microcystins safe? V.    How can algae users protect against microcystins? PART I.  What are microcystins? Quoting from _Toxicon_, volume 32, number 12, "Use of a Colorimetric Protein Phosphatase Inhibition Assay and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay for the Study of Microcystins and Nodularins.", by An and Carmichael, 1994, pages 1495 and 1496: "Microcystins are monocyclic heptapeptide liver toxins produced by species of cyanobacteria within the genera _Microcystis_, _Anabaena_, _Oscillatoria_, and _Nostoc_ (Carmichael, 1992).  The toxins contain two variable L-amino acids plus three D-amino acids plus the unusual amino acids, N-methyldehydroalanine and 3-amino-9-methoxy- 10-phenyl-2,6,8-trimethyl- deca-4(E)6(E)-dienoic acid (Adda) (Reinhart _et_al_, 1988)." [A peptide is a small protein.  A heptapeptide is a protein composed of seven amino acids.  Monocyclic means it's a one-ring loop.  A microcystin is a seven-member ring of amino acids, containing three D- amino acids and two weird amino acids, neither kind normally being found in human food.  Amino acids can have two mirror-image forms, called D and L.  All amino acids used to build proteins in the human body are L-amino acids, except glycine which is reflection-symmetric (i.e. neither D nor L).  D-amino acids are nutritionally inert, and they may contribute towards the ability of microcystins to survive the digestive process intact and get absorbed.] Quoting from page 1497: "Recently, both microcystin and nodularin have been found to be potent inhibitors of protein phosphatase types 1 and 2A (Yoshizawa _et_al_, 1990) as well as tumor promoters in laboratory animals (Nishiwaka- Matsushima _et_al_, 1992b;  Falconer, 1991).  They are also suspected to be involved with promotion of primary liver cancer in humans exposed to long-term low doses of these cyclic peptide toxins through drinking water (Carmichael, 1994; Yu, 1989)." PART II.  Where do microcystins come from? Quoting from "A Cell Tech Statement Regarding _Microcystis_ in Klamath and Agency Lakes", Cell Tech press release, September 1996: "Cell Tech also closely monitors algal blooms in Klamath and Agency Lakes by regularly performing species identification and quantification." "Our test results indicate that there is currently a high level of _Microcystis_aeruginosa_ in certain parts of the lake, particularly Agency Lake." [Cell Tech claims their standard is no more than 1% non-_Aphanizomenon_ species in SBGA.] Quoting from "A Message from Christian Drapeau", a 8, 1996,:   "Microcystins are regularly found, but only in non- significant amounts (specifically, 0.1- 0.2 mcg/g of SBGA)." Quoting from a posting made on May 25, 1997, From Wright State University, Dept. of Bio. Sciences, 10/28/96. (513-873-2655 FAX: 513-873-3320) ELISA assay for … microcystins: Measurable levels of microsystin or nodularin were found in samples QA- 9638 – QA-9643 (ug/g): 638    1.1 639    0.4 640    1.3 641    1.0 642    1.7 643    0.7 [Note that these numbers are about ten times higher than those admitted in the previous quote.] Quoting from "Response to Vegetarian Times", a letter from Marta Kollman, October 31, 1996, formerly but no longer available on Cell Tech’s fax-on-demand service:   "We know from rigorous testing over the years that _Microcystis_ has always existed in Klamath Lake at very low levels." [But how low is low enough?  Read on!] PART III.  What do microcystins do? Quoting from _Journal_of_Cancer_Research_and_ _Clinical_Oncology_, volume 118, "Liver Tumor Promotion by the Cyanobacterial Peptide Toxin Microcystin-LR", by Nishiwaki-Matsushima, Ohta, Nishiwaki, Suganuma, Kohyama, Ishikawa, Carmichael, and Fujiki, 1992, page 421: "In two experiments, we found that microcystin-LR has a potent tumor-promoting activity in rat liver initiated with diethylnitrosamine (DEN) below the concentrations that do not release aminotransferase (transaminase) from the liver into the blood serum. Microcystin acts on the liver through the okadaic acid pathway and is one of the strongest liver tumor promoters found to date." [DEN is a carcinogen used to seed cancer foci in the experimental animals.  Once seeded, the experiment measured the promotion of these cancer foci by various suspected tumor promoters.  Release of aminotransferase into the blood would be a sign of an acutely hepatotoxic reaction, which microcystins may cause.  This set of experiments found potent liver tumor promotion at levels below those which are acutely or sub-acutely toxic to the liver, as indicated by the lack of release of aminotransferase.] Quoting from page 423: "The mechanism of action of microcystin in liver cells is similar to that of okadaic acid, and therefore most likely expressed through the okadaic pathway.  We have found that the okadaic pathway, involving inhibition of protein phosphatase 1 and 2A activities, is a general mechanism of tumor promotion in various organs." [Inhibition of PP1 and PP2A ain't good!] Quoting from _Biochemical_Journal_, volume 306, "Inhibition of Specific Binding of Okadaic Acid to Protein Phosphatase 2A by Microcystin-LR, Calyculin-A and Tautomycin:  Method of Analysis of Interactions of Tight-Binding Ligands with Target Protein", by Takai, Sakai, Nagai, Mieskes, Isobe, Isono, and Yasumoto, 1995, page 662: "Of the protein phosphatase inhibitors examined, microcystin-LR exhibited the highest affinity to PP2A." "Of the inhibitors examined, it was also microcystin- LR that exhibited the highest affinity for PP1." [A tight-binding ligand is a molecule that holds on to a binding site of an enzyme so strongly it seldom lets go.  In this paper, the rate constants for binding of toxins to PP2A were about 10 to 100 billion times greater than their dissociation constants.] [That's a big difference in favor of binding!  For all practical purposes, binding is irreversible. Even at low levels of exposure, the PP1 and PP2A enzymes suck up the toxin and keep it.  Can any long- term exposure be safe, if liver enzymes are accumulating the toxin?] Quoting from _Biochemical_and_Biophysical_Research_ _Communications_, volume 216, number 1, "_In_Vivo_ and _in_Vitro_ Binding of Microcystin to Protein Phosphatases 1 and 2A", by Runnegar, Berndt, Kong, Lee, and Zhang, 1995, page 162: "Microcystins are normally cell impermeant, but they accumulate in the liver by specific carrier-mediated transport in hepatocytes which results in PP inhibition and toxicity." [Hepatocytes are liver cells.  Microcystins accumulate in liver cells.] Quoting from pages 167 and 168: "We have shown that microcystin, a potent and specific inhibitor of PP1 and PP2A activity, is covalently bound to both PP1 and PP2A catalytic subunits in hepatocytes incubated with the toxin." [This paper explains why the binding of microcystins to liver enzymes is virtually irreversible.  Most molecules bind to enzymes because of close fit.  The enzyme will have a pocket shaped like the molecule, and the molecule will fit into that pocket like a key fitting into a lock. Microcystins are unusual in that they form covalent bonds to their binding sites on liver enzymes.  This is like a key which not only fits the lock, but also proceeds to weld itself to the lock.] PART IV.  Is any level of microcystins safe? Quoting from _Journal_of__Gastroenterology_and_ _Hepatology_,  volume 10, "Primary prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma", by Shui-Zhang Yu, 1995, page 678: "Consequently, the question of specifically which carcinogens or promoters are found within pond-ditch water arises.  Recently, microcystin was found in several ponds and ditches in the high-endemic areas of hepatocellular carcinoma.  Furthermore, there are differences observed in the quantity of microcystin found in the drinking water of hepatocellular carcinoma patients and the water ingested by controls.  According to Kuiper-Goodman’s report based on results in mice, the tentative tolerable daily intake of microcystins in water is 0.5 micrograms per liter for a body weight of 70 kilograms and assuming 1.5 liters per day water intake.  We have tested water taken from shallow wells (i.e. 2 to 3 meter deep wells), in Tongan, Pujian in winter time and found only one sample in ten that was positive for microcystin (0.53 nanograms per deciliter).  However, in samples taken from pond-ditch water in high- endemic areas, microcystin levels were found to be 1.30 plus or minus 0.18 micrograms per 200 milliliters compared with 1.14 plus or minus 0.32 micrograms per 200 milliliters from pond-ditch water in less endemic areas." [Multiplying 0.5 micrograms per liter by 1.5 liters per day results in a maximum safe dose of 0.75 micrograms per day.  Obviously, there is an assumption here of 70 kilograms body weight.  A child would be able to tolerate a much smaller dose.] [With regard to SBGA, they are regulated at 1 microgram per gram dry weight of the algae.  One capsule contains 0.25 grams of algae (some of Cell Tech's competitors deliver 0.5 grams per capsule). Therefore, three capsules would put ... read more »

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Blue Green Algae

 In the July 7th issue of Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Dr. Michael R.  Boyd of the National Cancer Institute (USA) reports on the discovery of a protein extracted from blue-green algae that has been shown to inactivate HIV in test tubes. According to researchers, the protein cyanovirin-N (CV-N) not only irreversibly inactivates diverse strains of HIV-1 and HIV-2, it also inhibits cell-to-cell as well as virus-to-cell transmission of the virus. In addition, the researchers state that exposure to high concentrations of CV-N was not toxic to uninfected cells.  Enthusiastic about their discovery, the researchers were led to conclude that cyanovirin-N, the first antiviral protein to be extracted from a blue-green alga, "...provides a novel lead for further investigation of new potential therapeutic and preventive strategies against HIV infection."  Blue-green algae are sold as nutritional supplements in both capsule and powder form in health food stores.  Permission to Reproduce:  c. 1997 This document is copyrighted by the Community AIDS Treatment  Information Exchange (CATIE). All CATIE materials may be reprinted and/or distributed without prior permission. However, reprints may not be edited and must include the following text:  "From Community AIDS Treatment Information Exchange (CATIE). For more  information visit CATIE's Information Network at http://www.catie.ca"  

Response:

Blue Green Algae Michael R.  Boyd of the National Cancer Institute (USA) reports on the discovery of a protein extracted from blue-green algae that has been shown to inactivate HIV in test tubes. According to researchers, the

Lots of stuff kills HIV in test tubes, such as bleach. Blue-green algae are sold as nutritional supplements in both capsule and powder form in health food stores.

But the stuff you sell isn't the same blue-green algae. Your stuff is skimmed off a lake.  Should people who need to worry about cryptosporidium and giardia eat stuff skimmed off a lake?  Here's a file of information about the conditions in Klamath Lake. KLAMATH LAKE:  PRISTINE OR PUTRID ??? Copyright Mark Thorson 1998 Super Blue Green (registered trademark, Cell Tech brand) algae is the species known as _Aphanizomenon_flos-aquae_, harvested from Klamath Lake in Oregon. The remainder of this file is divided into three parts: I.    What are the conditions in Klamath Lake? II.   What algae grows in Klamath Lake? III.  Is the algae that grows in Klamath Lake toxic? PART I.  What are the conditions in Klamath Lake? Quoting from "Klamath Lake, An Instance of Natural Enrichment", by Phinney and Peek, in _Algae_and_Metropolitan_Wastes_, 1960, pages 22-24: "For at least sixty years the algal populations of Upper Klamath Lake have been sufficiently large to cause comment and speculation as to the cause and effects of the growth. During the summer months the Lake has been unsightly and has had offensive odor.  The discharge from the Lake has contained a heavy organic load, high in nitrogen.  This has caused portions of the upper reaches of the Klamath River to become periodically anaerobic despite the supersaturation with oxygen that occurs at the exit from the Lake during daylight hours.  Because of this situation a serious problem has arisen in the disposal of metropolitan wastes." "From the correspondence files of the Bureau of Reclamation comes evidence of early concern for this situation.  As early as January 1906, J. B. Lippencot, Supervising Engineer for the then Reclamation Service (now Bureau of Reclamation) wrote from his Los Angeles office in part:  "...I wish to call your attention to the fact that these waters are filled with some sort of organic matter, either animal or vegetable, so that they have a decided green appearance.  They are cutting up ice now that has been formed from these waters, and we will probably be asked to use this ice next summer.  Last summer we were troubled a great deal up there with stomach complaints. For that reason I am somewhat interested in the sanitary analysis of the water.  This same material in the water appears to have some fertilizing properties..." "Wherever along its length the river had been impounded, whether behind a dam or in a backwater or slough, the water had produced blooms comparable with that in Upper Klamath Lake.  It can be predicted that the construction of additional impoundments on the Klamath River will greatly increase the organic load of this already impossibly burdened stream and will probably bring an end to fish production in this stream." PART II.  What algae grows in Klamath Lake? Quoting from "Klamath Lake, An Instance of Natural Enrichment", by Phinney and Peek, in _Algae_and_Metropolitan_Wastes_, 1960, page 24: "Although this survey has named 29 species of algae as occurring in the plankton with some seasonal regularity, four species of the _Cyanophyta_ (_Aphanizomenon_ n. sp., _Gloeotrichia_echinulata_, _Anabaena_circinalis_, _Anacystis_ (_Microcystis_ or _Polycystis_) _aeruginosa_, and two species of diatoms (_Asterionella_formosa_ and _Melosira_ sp.) have been most abundant at different seasons." "The prime offender in the summer bloom has been the _Aphanizomenon_.  Germinating spores and single filaments were found in the plankton by the end of March or by the first of April.  By the end of April the population had developed to the point that several thousand filaments were contained in each liter of water.  By the end of May a million and a half filaments per liter were present and in June, July, August, and September the counts started to drop and through the months of October and November the plants died in great masses." [Note that blue-green algae were still referred to as plants in 1960, because the distinction between prokaryotes and eukaryotes was not fully appreciated at that time.  Under today's classification system, blue-green algae are correctly identified as a form of bacteria.] PART III.  Is the algae that grows in Klamath Lake toxic? Quoting from "Blue-Green and Green Algal Toxins", by John H. Gentile, _Microbial_Toxins_ vol. VII, pages 39-40: "In 1968, an _Aphanizomenon_flos-aquae_ sample from Klamath Lake was successfully cultured (Gentile, 1968). This sample was collected in usual fasciculate form. Initial growth was slow with fascicle size decreasing. In a second culture, which was aerated, the fascicles disintegrated and the growth of the resulting solitary trichomes was rapid (T = 22 hours).  Mass cultures derived from this inoculum were toxic to fish (_Fundulus_ _heteroclitus, _Cyprinodon_variegatus_) and white mice (MLD = 10 mg/kg in 5 minutes).  No attempt was made to determine if the fasciculate form was toxic.  Although there is evidence that cultural conditions can affect toxin production (Gorham, 1964b;  Perry and Gorham, 1966; Gentile and Maloney, 1969), there is no reason to believe that the factors involved in maintaining fasciculate integrity (McLachlan _et_al_, 1963;  Guseva, 1937; Zehnder and Gorham, 1960) are related to toxin production. O’Flaherty and Phinney (1970) have reported on the unialgal culture of _Aphanizomenon_flos-aquae_ in defined medium in the fasciculate form from a bloom in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon.  They have maintained the fasciculate form in modified ASM medium for more than 3 years.  Maintenance and growth of fascicles was obtained when the concentration of ferric iron was 0.18 mg/liter.  Gentile and Maloney (1969) were unable to induce fascicle formation in the toxic clone of _Aphanizomenon_flos-aquae_ isolated from Kezar Lake, New Hampshire.  This was not unexpected since this isolate was never found in the fasciculate form in nature. However, using the nutritional and culture conditions suggested by O’Flaherty and Phinney (1970), fasciculate growth was induced in a non-fasciculate culture originally isolated from Klamath Lake (Gentile, 1970).  Both the fasciculate and non-fasciculate cultures were toxic." [Fasciculate means the individual filaments (i.e. trichomes) occur in bundles, rather than as separate strands.]

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