Vitamin C and Metabolites
Kill the Aids Virus
Acquired
Immunodeficiency Syndrome
(AIDS) has become like the
ultimate Frankenstein horror
story – and the entire
world is "freaked out".
Prior to AIDS, cancer was,
and still is, to a large
extent, a subject most avoided
and THE dreaded disease.
AIDS, in a period of less
than one decade, in addition
to claiming the lives of
tens of thousands of sufferers
internationally, has managed
to radically alter social
practises and attitudes
to sex and relationships,
virtually reinstate non-promiscuity
and fidelity, as well as
promote the widespread use
of condoms to the extent
that "rubbers"
or "sheaths" are
now available in vending
machines in ladies' as well
as mens' toilets. Such is
the terror of AIDS that
presently over 32 countries
have drafted laws requiring
long-term visitors to their
country to produce recent
evidence of not being infected
with HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency
Virus.
AIDS is
the result of an immune
system devastated by HIV
and presumably other co-factors,
which leaves the individual
vulnerable to potentially
fatal attack even by normally
innocuous agents. And as
the person's immune system
gradually weakens, so does
his or her resistance to
disease. AIDS is insidious
– since the very cells
which are designed to protect
one from disease are those
which are targetted for
destruction by HIV, the
virus which has been implicated
as being a major factor
in AIDS.
Everything
about AIDS is controversial
– the hypothesized
origins of AIDS, the causative
organism(s), the drugs and
treatments being developed,
the methods of testing these
treatments, the widespread
consumer-driven force to
use alternative AIDS treatments,
the social attitudes to
HIV-infected persons, even
institutional attitudes
of giant insurance companies
to AIDS patients (147).
And the waste and horror
of AIDS is becoming indelibly
inscribed upon our consciousness
as increasing numbers of
friends, relatives and acquaintances
are touched by this latter-day
20th century plague.
The battles
rage amongst the scientific
and medical "experts"
about every aspect of AIDS,
even whether HIV is the
cause, or merely a co-factor
of AIDS. The medical establishment
sees infection with HIV
as leading eventually and
irrevocably to death, whereas
"alternative"
practitioners (including
many MDs) report of individuals
who have seemingly "beaten"
the virus and are healthy,
even 8-10 years after infection.
Even amidst suffering and
death, sagas of immeasurable
spiritual insight and growth
within AIDS victims and
their caretakers abound.
And despite the billions
of dollars being expended
upon AIDS research, the
eventual control of the
worldwide AIDS epidemic
will, in this author's opinion,
be more the combined result
of sensible lifestyle changes
and natural evolutionary
factors in the virulence
of HIV than any glorious
technological marvels. Not
to dispute that an effective
vaccine would also be invaluable.
As usual,
Vitamin C is right in the
thick of these battles.
Considerable persistence
and effort was required
before the research described
in this chapter documenting
Vitamin C's inhibition of
HIV was accepted for publication
by a scholarly scientific
journal. The field of AIDS
research is a highly charged
political arena, with scientific
reputations, budgets, and
potential Nobel prizes at
stake. Billions are being
spent in the academic and
corporate sectors on the
development of drugs and
vaccines against AIDS.
Several
years ago, physicians Drs.
Robert Cathcart(47-8) of
the US and Ian Brighthope(35)
of Australia, reported the
CLINICALLY effective use
of Vitamin C in treating
AIDS patients, who were
staying alive twice as long
and suffering many less
infections and symptoms
of AIDS. The report that
a natural, inexpensive and
unpatentable substance such
as Vitamin C could be highly
potent and effective against
AIDS may represent a threat
as well as an embarrassment
to the drug companies, who
may suffer considerable
financial losses with failure
and/or toxicity of their
own drugs.
The research
reported here for the first
time ever outside of the
scientific journals, performed
at the Linus Pauling Institute,
had the "blessing"
and cooperation of one of
the scientific "pioneers"
of AIDS research, Dr. Robert
Gallo, who supplied the
first batches of chronically
infected cell lines used.
In addition, the research
received the enthusiastic
support of Dr. Michael McGrath
of San Francisco General
Hospital who provided another
batch of the same chronically
infected cell line. Identical
results were obtained by
the Pauling Institute investigators
with both batches of cells.
The molecular biology experiments
described here, elegantly
and rigorously show that
Vitamin C, in the test tube,
inhibits HIV reverse transcriptase
(RT) activity by over 99%(97).
Clinical experience with
hundreds of AIDS patients
with Vitamin C also strongly
suggests the power of Vitamin
C's potential therapeutic
effect upon this disease;
what follows from here is
in the hands of clinicians,
politicians and patients.
Vitamin
C/AIDS Research from the
Linus Pauling Institute
____________________________________________
The following research was
conducted by Drs. S. Harakeh
and R. J. Jariwalla and
published in 1990(97). Principal
investigator Dr. Jariwalla,
currently Director of the
Viral Carcinogenesis and
Immunodeficiency Program
at the Linus Pauling Institute,
received his doctorate in
Virology at the Medical
College of Wisconsin and
did postdoctoral training
in basic cancer research
at Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Jariwalla and colleagues
are credited with the discovery
of cancer-inducing elements
from herpes and other viruses.
Dr. Jariwalla directs projects
related to mechanisms of
cancer induction as well
as nutritionally related
investigations including
the potential role of Vitamin
C in AIDS(117) and plant-derived
phytate in cancer and atherogenes.
Vitamin C Significantly
Inhibits HIV Reverse Transcriptase
Activity
__________________________________________________
The AIDS
virus is called a 'retrovirus',
because it's genetic material
is composed of RNA which
gets copied into DNA. When
HIV gets into a cell, it
has to "reverse"
copy its RNA back into DNA
in order for it to function
and replicate within the
host cell. To accomplish
this, HIV is equipped with
an enzyme called, logically
enough, "reverse transcriptase"
(RT). One of the parameters
molecular biologists use
to assess HIV replication
or infectivity is to measure
HIV RT activity. In one
of the experiments used,
a chronically HIV-infected
cell line was cultured either
with or without the addition
of varying levels of Vitamin
C (0-150ug/ml), and the
level of RT activity determined
at differing time periods
(0-4 days). In control cells
not treated with Vitamin
C, the level of RT activity
started to rise on day 2,
reaching a peak on day 4.
In sharp contrast, infected
cells treated with Vitamin
C showed markedly inhibited
RT activity. By day 2, RT
activity was inhibited by
more than 90% at Vitamin
C concentrations greater
than 100 ug/ml; by day 4,
at 150 ug/ml Vitamin C,
RT activity was inhibited
by greater than 99%(97)
! Control experiments had
previously determined that
cell viability was normal
at these Vitamin C concentrations,
ie that Vitamin C itself
was not toxic to these cells.
In addition it was shown
that at concentrations at
which ascorbate inhibited
HIV RT, no adverse effects
were seen on host metabolic
activity and rate of protein
synthesis(97).
Vitamin C Inhibits Expression
of HIV p24 Antigen
______________________________________
When the
HIV virus infects a cell,
it "highjacks"
the cell's protein-manufacturing
apparatus to start churning
out its own (HIV's) proteins.
Another indication, in addition
to RT activity described
above, used by scientists
to assess HIV infection,
is the expression of p24
antigen, one of the virus'
core proteins. Again, as
with the previously described
experiment, control cells
not treated with Vitamin
C showed an increase in
p24 levels on day 2, reaching
a peak on day 4. And, again,
in sharp contrast to control
cell culture and those treated
with Vitamin C, p24 levels
were inhibited by almost
90%(97). Since control experiments
conducted determined that
cellular metabolic activity
and protein synthesis were
not affected in the presence
of Vitamin C (97), the observed
suppression of RT and p24
must be due to inhibition
of a specific step or steps
in HIV replication.
Vitamin C Inhibits Syncytia
Formation
_____________________________
A third
assay of HIV infectivity
involves the monitoring
of giant, multi-cell complex
formations, called syncytia.
These syncytia are formed
due to the interaction of
HIV cell glycoprotein with
receptors on the surface
of T4 cells. In non-Vitamin
C treated cells, syncytia
became visible by day 4,
reaching a peak on day 6.
In contrast, in Vitamin
C treated cells, syncytia
were inhibited by 93.3%
on day 4(97). These data
are summarized in Table
1.
Table 1. Inhibition of HIV
Activity by Vitamin C*
______________________________________
Parameter
Assessed Degree of Inhibition
Attained (%)
_________________________________________
Reverse
Transcriptase (RT) Activity
99
p24 Antigen
Expression 90
Syncytia
Formation 93.3
____________________
*These
data were reported in S.
Harakeh and R.J. Jariwalla,
1990 97
Mechanisms of Vitamin C's
Inhibition of HIV
___________________________________
Does Vitamin
C act DIRECTLY upon HIV,
or is there some indirect
process of inactivation?
Experiments conducted to
address this question determined
that Vitamin C does NOT
directly inactivate the
virus nor prevent infection
of cells; however, the inhibition
of HIV by Vitamin C was
due to Vitamin C's action
upon the virus, not upon
other cellular processes.
Since Vitamin C does not,
by itself, directly inhibit
RT activity or processes
involved in syncytium formation,
the reduction of these viral
parameters "therefore
represents inhibition of
a step of steps in HIV replication......delayed
inactivating effect on the
virion-associated enzyme
was seen upon prolonged
incubation of cell-free
virus with ascorbate. This
may reflect the accumulation
to threshold levels of some
reactive metabolite of ascorbic
acid....upon prolonged in
vitro exposure, virion components
may become susceptible to
further attack by metabolites
of ascorbate generated from
its oxidative degradation"(97).
The actual
mechanism reponsible for
Vitamin C's anti-HIV properties
is not currently known.
Further research is continuing
to unravel the molecular
action of ascorbate on HIV.
Preliminary Clinical Evidence
of Vitamin C's Efficacy
for AIDS
_______________________________________________
Dr. Robert
Cathcart has treated hundreds
of AIDS patients using large
doses (oral and intravenous)
of Vitamin C. In Dr. Cathcart's
words "Ascorbate, by
making short work of colds
and other minor infections,
and by reducing the duration
and complications of major
infections, reduces the
activation of T-helper cells
and thereby slows the multiplication
of viruses"(48). Dr.
Ian Brighthope, also successfully
using Vitamin C to treat
AIDS, finds that Vitamin
C ameliorates depressed
mental states as well as
the bacterial and viral
infections associated with
AIDS(35). The results of
Drs. Harakeh and Jariwalla(97),
demonstrating HIV suppression
by ascorbate in vitro, provide
support for a third possibility
i.e. that Vitamin C may
directly block HIV replication
occurring in infected cells.
Attempts
to conduct controlled clinical
trials of Vitamin C have
been frustrated by the refusal
of granting agencies to
fund such necessary research.
Dr. Brighthope writes that
his application to the Research
Grants' Division of the
Commonwealth Department
of Health was refused "on
the grounds that there was
no evidence that Vitamin
C had any effect on the
course of the disease".
Attitudes of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH)
and the MRC in the UK convey
similar conservative and
intransigent views; the
positive therapeutic effect
(albeit anecdotal) of non-toxic
Vitamin C in the treatment
of AIDS certainly represents
a major step forward and
offers advantages over currently
available AZT, which, being
a potent inhibitor of DNA
replication in NORMAL cells,
is highly toxic, and only
inhibits new HIV infection.
The inability
to obtain funding to conduct
clinical trials for natural
medicines treating AIDS
is widespread, and has been
reported by many researchers,
including this author, working
with a variety of substances.
To the author's knowledge,
the only clinical trial
being conducted today with
Vitamin C on AIDS is a PRIVATELY
funded trial coordinated
by Dr. Russell Jaffe, formerly
a senior researcher and
clinician at the NIH, presently
Director of Serammune Physicians
Lab in Vienna, Virginia.
The publication
of the research reported
herewith in a major scientific
journal probably heralds
concrete evidence of the
beginning of the winds of
change in research attitudes.
It is likely now, with such
rigorous laboratory evidence
of Vitamin C's potent anti-HIV
activity, that clinical
research will blossom, taking
Vitamin C out of the realm
of "fringe" medicine
and into the mainstream
worlds of nutritional and
consumer medicine. Vitamin
C became a respectable field
of research long ago; it
is long overdue for the
medical and research establishments
to acknowledge and support
further progress toward
our collective improved
health.
