AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #157, August 21, 1992
Jason Heyman
The minicourse offered a glimpse of what an international dialogue on alternative and traditional medicines could look like. Representatives from countries heavily affected by HIV discussed their work with traditional indigenous treatments, and western-trained researchers discussed the preliminary data that exists on some "alternative" treatments.
Most information in this area appeared in poster presentations or published abstracts. These reports were not selected by the review committees for oral sessions, but instead for poster presentation in the conference hall and/or publication in the three-volume set of abstracts given to all conference attenders. [Reference numbers below refer to the abstract numbers in these volumes.]
One notable paper was a poster presentation by Raxit Jariwalla, of the Linus Pauling Institute, on a laboratory study of vitamin C (ascorbate) combined with NAC (N- acetylcysteine) [poster #PoB3697]. NAC is a naturally occurring amino acid that has become a popular treatment available through buyers' clubs. (For background on NAC see AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #152, June 5, 1992.) Jariwalla's laboratory study found that adding NAC to vitamin C created a synergistic effect that caused an eight-fold increase in anti-HIV activity. The laboratory study alone cannot show whether the combination treatment will be useful, so it should be followed up with a clinical trial. Because both of these agents are already widely used, it is important to know as much about them as possible, including how they work together.
Another promising laboratory study conducted at the Chulalongkorn University Hospital in Bangkok examined an extract of the "lacquered mushroom," Ganoderma lucidum [PuB7521]. The preliminary study showed that this product altered the response of lymphocytes taken from HIV-positive patients and offers evidence supporting further studies.
(Note: Nutrition will be covered separately in future articles.)
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