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At least 721 records · Page 40Linked to original sources
PubMed1998

Decrease of activated lymphocytes four and nine hours after a subcutaneous injection of a Viscum album L. extract in healthy volunteers.

The immunomodulatory substance, VaQuFrF (an aqueous extract of Viscum album L. of the oak tree) is used as an adjuvant and as monotherapy in the treatment of cancer and AIDS. After subcutaneous injection, there is a local inflammatory reaction at the injection site and systemic elevation of activated lymphocytes. The immunomodulatory effect of VaQuFrF in the first 24 h after subcutaneous injection on blood leukocyte and lymphocyte subpopulation was investigated. Because a significant natural circadian variation of these cellular parameters exist, the influence was studied in regard to this. In two groups of healthy volunteers, one group receiving VaQuFrF, the following parameters were measured every 2-3 h over a period of 24 h: leukocytes, band form, segmented and eosinophilic granulocytes, monocytes, total lymphocytes and CD4-, CD8-, CD3/25- and CD8/38-positive lymphocytes in count and percentage. In regard to the natural circadian variation 24 h after injection of VaQuFrF, a statistically significant fall in the absolute numbers and percentage of CD3/ 25- and CD8/38-positive lymphocytes was observed. Also, monocytes in percent and absolute numbers show a transient fall 6-9 h, lymphocytes only in absolute and CD4-positive lymphocytes only in percentage 2 h after injection. The results demonstrate that there is increased extravasation of (activated) lymphocytes and monocytes after subcutaneous injection of 1 mg VaQuFrF.

Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
PubMed1979

[What prospects of success does Iscador therapy offer in advanced ovarian cancer?].

Having established the hypothesis that the carcinostatic effect of Iscador described in the literature and ascertained by own observations should also show in the treatment of carcinoma of the ovary, we compiled all respective cases treated since November 1969 in the Gynecological Ward of the Gemeinnütziges Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke. The collective consisted of 25 patients with primary neoplasms of the ovary who received post-operative treatment with Iscador. The average age was 50.96 years. 20 women were in the advanced stages III and IV according to FIGO. Five-year survival rates were 100% in stages I and II, 23% in stage III and 0% in stage IV. After establishing best possible congruence, our group of patients was compared with a collective of 22 women with neoplasms of the ovary who had received post-operative treatment with Cytoval. Inspite of less favorable prognostic indicators for the Iscador patients, the latter reached an average survival rate of 16.2 months as compared to 5.2 months in the group treated with Cytoval (ratio 3.1:1). The survival period of Iscador patients in stage III was 4.2 times longer, in stage IV 1.6 times longer than that of the Cytoval patients. The difference is statistically significant (alpha less than 0.018). A comparison of the results of the two collectives shows that Iscador a special preparation of viscum album, is a useful and effective treatment of carcinoma of the ovary, particularly since it usually does not cause serious and undesired side effects. Thus the original working hypothesis was confirmed.

Acrylates↗
PubMed1987

Immunomodulation with Viscum album and Echinacea purpurea extracts.

Extracts of Viscum album (Plenosol) and Echinacea purpurea (Echinacin) are used clinically for their non-specific action on cell-mediated immunity. In vitro we could prove that these two extracts have a stimulating effect on the production of lymphokines by lymphocytes and in the transformation test. A toxic effect on cells was produced only with very high, clinically irrelevant concentrations. Clinical application of these extracts can produce a stimulation of cell-mediated immunity (one therapeutic administration followed by a free interval of one week) or can have a depressive action (daily administrations of higher doses). These observations were confirmed by lymphokine production and assay, 3H-thymidine incorporation and a skin test with recall antigens (Multitest Merieux).

Cell Migration Inhibition↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Antitumorous and immunomodulatory effects of the Viscum album L. preparation Isorel.

There are numerous data on the immunostimulative and antitumorous activity of various Viscum album tissue extracts. Isorel (Novipharm, Austria) is one of these compounds. We found that in mice an increased number of plaque-forming cells to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) followed the injection of Isorel together with SRBC. Further, survival time of a foreign skin graft was shortened if Isorel was applied at the correct time. Finally, suppressed immune reactivity in tumorous mice recovered following Isorel injection. Isorel was further shown to be cytotoxic to tumor cells in vitro. Its application to tumor-bearing mice could prolong their life but without any therapeutic effect. However, a combination of local irradiation and Isorel was very effective: following 43 Gy of local irradiation to a transplanted methylcholanthrene-induced fibrosarcoma (volume about 240 mm3) growing in syngeneic CBA/HZgr mice, the tumor disappeared in about 25% of the animals; the addition of Isorel increased the incidence of cured animals to over 65%. The combined action of Isorel, influencing tumor viability on the one hand and the host's immune reactivity on the other, seems to be favorable for its antitumor action in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Reduction of leukopenia in mice by "viscum album" administration during radiation and chemotherapy.

"Viscum album" extract, iscador, was found to reduce the leukocytopenia produced by radiation and cyclophosphamide treatment in animals. Weight loss due to radiation was considerably reduced by "Viscum album" extract whereas weight loss due to cyclophosphamide was not altered. Hemoglobin levels also were not affected by "Viscum album" extract administration. The results indicated that treatment with "Viscum album" extract reduces lymphocytopenia and hence could be used along with chemotherapy and radiation therapy.

Animals↗
PubMed1980

Isolation of viscotoxins. Cytotoxic basic polypeptides from Viscum album L.

In the course of cytotoxicity-directed fractionation of extracts from Viscum album L., it appeared that crude viscotoxin, a basic polypeptide fraction, is responsible for cytotoxic properties of the plant examined. Separation of this fraction by ion exchange chromatography on carboxymethylcellulose led to isolation of five cytotoxic components. Four of them, named viscotoxins I, II, III and IVb were obtained as homogeneous substances. The isolated polypeptides exhibited cytotoxic activity against human tumor cells of KB and HeLa lines in tissue culture in the concentration range (ED50 values) of 0.2-1.7 microgram/ml. Considerably decreased activities were found when tissue culture was contaminated with mycoplasma. The estimated molecular weights (about 5000) and the amino acid compositions suggest the viscotoxins II, III and IVb are identical to viscotoxins B, A-2 and A-3, respectively. The latter three viscotoxins have been isolated previously by others as toxic (cardiotoxic) components of Viscum album. The fractionation of the crude viscotoxin was carried out by a new procedure, considerably simpler than that described for isolation of viscotoxins B, A-2 and A-3

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1980

Interaction between DNA and viscotoxins. Cytotoxic basic polypeptides from Viscum album L.

Cytotoxic viscotoxins I, II, III and IVb protect the native structure of DNA against thermal denaturation. Viscotoxin IVb-DNA complexes, obtained by direct mixing, were studied in detail by the techniques of thermal denaturation of DNA and circular dichroism (CD). The binding of viscotoxin IVb to DNA is principally ionic. This interaction results in DNA segments of different thermal stability, probably due to the cooperativity of the binding process. CD studies disclosed that conformation of DNA remains unaltered upon complexing with viscotoxin IVb. The content of alpha-helical structure, appreciable in free viscotoxin IVb, is reduced only slightly in the complexes with an excess of DNA and drastically at the polypeptide-DNA ratios close to saturation. Stoichiometry at the saturation level has been estimated as approximately one molecule of viscotoxin IVb per ten nucleotide residues. The binding of heat-denatured, noncytotoxic viscotoxin IVb to DNA is random, in contrast to the native polypeptide, although the overall stabilization of DNA-double helix is similar in both cases. The presented studies demonstrated that the cytotoxic viscotoxins bind to DNA and that viscotoxin IVb-DNA interaction has some common features with the interaction of various histones with DNA; however, the relevance of the interaction with DNA to the cytotoxic properties of viscotoxins remains unknown.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Efficient induction of superoxide release from human neutrophils by the galactoside-specific lectin from Viscum album.

The immunomodulatory galactoside-specific lectin from Viscum album (VAA) induces superoxide anion (O2.-) release from human neutrophils. Among twelve tested lectins, VAA, has the highest activity, clearly surpassing the effect of the human beta-galactoside-specific lectin (galaptin). Its reactivity is blocked in the presence of lactose and is strictly dependent on the carbohydrate-binding B-subunit. The toxic A-subunit of the lectin does not elicit a response. The VAA-induced respiratory burst is less sensitive to addition of adenosine and theophylline than the concanavalin A-mediated reaction. Other modulators like amiloride (up to 100 microM), trifluoperazine and N-ethylmaleimide reveal less pronounced differences, and indomethacin, colchicine (up to 100 microM) as well as cytochalasin B act as stimulators of lectin-induced O2.- release from neutrophils. The O2.- production in the presence of small concentrations of VAA (0.1-20 micrograms/ml) is increased by addition of N-formylmethionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine (FMLP), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or digitonin, respectively, whereas concanavalin A (Con A) or wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) fail to affect the VAA-dependent extent of the respiratory burst. These results substantiate that the VAA-induced O2.- release from human neutrophils can be enhanced by other classes of inductors.

Adenosine↗
PubMed2002

Mechanisms involved in spontaneous and Viscum album agglutinin-I-induced human neutrophil apoptosis: Viscum album agglutinin-I accelerates the loss of antiapoptotic Mcl-1 expression and the degradation of cytoskeletal paxillin and vimentin proteins via caspases.

Viscum album agglutinin-I (VAA-I) is a plant lectin that possesses interesting potential therapeutic properties and immunomodulatory activities. We have recently found that VAA-I is a potent inducer of human neutrophil apoptosis, but the mechanism(s) involved require further elucidation. In this study, we found that VAA-I alters mitochondrial transmembrane potential and increases intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Despite these observations, treatment with the mitochondrial stabilizer, bongkrekic acid, or with catalase, known to degrade H(2)O(2), fails to reverse VAA-I-induced apoptosis. Moreover, VAA-I was found to induce apoptosis in PLB-985 cells deficient in gp91(phox), indicating that the lectin acts via an ROS-independent mechanism. Pretreatment of neutrophils with brefeldin A, an inhibitor of vesicular transport, was found to reverse VAA-I-induced apoptosis. Protein expression of Mcl-1 was decreased by VAA-I. The role of caspases in the degradation of cytoskeletal proteins during both spontaneous and VAA-I-induced neutrophil apoptosis was also investigated. Paxillin and vimentin were markedly degraded by VAA-I when compared with neutrophils that undergo spontaneous apoptosis, but not vinculin or alpha- and beta-tubulin. Caspases were involved in cytoskeletal protein degradation because preincubation with the pan-caspase inhibitor N-benzyloxycarbonyl-V-A-D-O-methylfluoromethyl ketone was found to reverse protein cleavage. We conclude that VAA-I needs to be internalized to mediate apoptosis and that its activity is not dependent on a cell surface receptor-mediated pathway. Also, we conclude that VAA-I induces apoptosis by ROS-independent and Mcl-1-dependent mechanisms and that caspases are involved in cytoskeletal protein degradation in both spontaneous and VAA-I-induced neutrophil apoptosis.

Apoptosis↗
PubMed2000

NMR structural determination of viscotoxin A3 from Viscum album L.

The high-resolution three-dimensional structure of the plant toxin viscotoxin A3, from Viscum album L., has been determined in solution by (1)H NMR spectroscopy at pH 3.6 and 12 degrees C (the structure has been deposited in the Protein Data Bank under the id. code 1ED0). Experimentally derived restraints including 734 interproton distances from nuclear Overhauser effect measurements, 22 hydrogen bonds, 32 φ angle restraints from J coupling measurements, together with three disulphide bridge constraints were used as input in restrained molecular dynamics, followed by minimization, using DYANA and Discover. Backbone and heavy atom root-mean-square deviations were 0.47+/-0.11 A (1 A=10(-10) m) and 0.85+/-0.13 A respectively. Viscotoxin A3 consists of two alpha-helices connected by a turn and a short stretch of antiparallel beta-sheet. This fold is similar to that found in other thionins, such as crambin, hordothionin-alpha and -beta, phoratoxin A and purothionin-alpha and -beta. The difference in the observed biological activity for thionins of known structure is discussed in terms of the differences in the calculated surface potential distribution, playing an important role in their function through disruption of cell membranes. In addition, the possible role in DNA binding of the helix-turn-helix motif of viscotoxin A3 is discussed.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1972

[Not Available].

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History, Ancient↗