Neoplasm Prevention and Immuno‐Enhancement Mediated by Daily Consumption of a Proprietary Extract from North American Ginseng by Elderly Mice of a Cancer‐Prone Strain

Abstract

Cells belonging to the innate immune system, known as natural killer (NK) cells, act as the first line of defense against developing neoplasms. We have previously shown in a leukemia-induced tumor model (mouse) that a proprietary extract (CVT-E002), of North American ginseng, administered in the diet, significantly increased the absolute numbers of NK cells, significantly decreased leukemia cells and significantly increased the life span of CVT-E002-fed leukemic mice. In the present study, we assessed the efficacy of this extract to inhibit the spontaneous development of tumors in elderly mice of the cancer-prone C3H strain. Dietary CVT-E002 was fed for approximately a year beginning when mice were almost 2 years of age. Control mice, consuming the same chow without CVT-E002, all developed assorted, palpable tumors between 22 and 33 months, while all mice consuming CVT-E002 remained alive and tumor-free until they were purposely euthanized as healthy animals. The absolute numbers of NK cells at euthanasia, in CVT-E002-consuming mice, were significantly elevated in both the spleen and bone marrow. Given these profoundly positive results and the fact that CVT-E002 already exists in the marketplace under the label Cold-fX®, the potential for cancer prevention in humans becomes apparent.

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“…Secondly, the daily dosage of CVT-E002 proved to be critical in achieving alopecia amelioration. The significant increase in immune cells (NK cells and non-NK T/B lymphocytes) in all 3 organs (spleen, bone marrow and blood) in the presence of CVT-E002, in vitro and in vivo, under normal and disease conditions, is consistent with several previous observations by other laboratories as well as our own (Wang et al, 2001;2004;Miller et al, 2009;2011a;Durairaj and Miller, 2012;2013). The immune privilege with which the anagen (hair follicle growth center) is imbued under normal conditions is based on numerous carefully balanced factors.…”

“…This low dose (2mg) of CVT-E002 was assessed in a previous dose/response study (Miller et al, 2009), to be the lowest dose where minimal increases in NK cells T/B lymphocytes were observed. In our studies (Miller et al, 2009;Durairaj et al, 2012;2013) the dose/response relationship in adult mice consisted of progressively assessing the responses through doses of 2, 40, 80, 120mg/day/adult mouse and selecting the highest dose for which maximum stimulation of immune cell numbers in adult mice could be found. This was 80mg of CVT-E002.…”

“…We summarize here previously published methods (Miller and Kearney, 1997;Maloney et al, 1998;Sun et al, 1999;Miller et al, 2011a, Durairaj and Miller, 2012, 2013 for extracting, preparing, identifying and enumerating lymphocytes and NK cells from the spleen, bone marrow and blood of mice. Although the methods described below are labor intensive, they are highly accurate.…”

“…Described here, is a method which is accurate for identifying and recording small populations of cells such as NK cells (Miller et al, 2011a;Durairaj and Miller, 2012;2013). Upon removal of the spleen from each mouse -both experimental and control -it was pressed through a stainless steel mesh into a combination medium consisting of ice cold Eagles basal essential medium (GIBCO Invitrogen Corp., Burlington, Ontario, Canada), with 10% heatinactivated newborn bovine serum (NBS), also sourced from GIBCO.…”

Korean Red Ginseng water extract arrests growth of xenografted lymphoma cells

“…Although many systemic studies on the anticancer activity of KRG have been performed, the effect of KRG on leukemia has not been fully investigated. Indeed, a few papers have reported the antileukemia effect of orally administered ginseng-derived components from Panax quinquefolius , but not from Panax ginseng [12] . Also, most studies have been performed in in vitro conditions with HL-60, U937, and NB4 cells [13] , [14] , [15] .…”