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Could Ban Lec (a chemical found in bananas) be more effective than drugs designed to prevent HIV infection?
According to an article I read on FOX news, researchers have found a chemical in bananas that could help protect women from HIV infection. It was shown to be as strong as two top HIV drugs? How could this be? Does anyone know about this study?
(Here's the article if anyone would like to read it: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589483,00.html)
(Here's the article if anyone would like to read it: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,589483,00.html)
26 yr old, Female
asked Mar 17, 2010 at 10:50AM in Infectious Diseases
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2Votesanswered Mar 17, 2010 at 12:29PMHello. First thing's first... This is a study still under examination. The abstract and other details can be found here: http://www.jbc.org/content/285/12/8646.abstract
Lectins are proteins that, much like our antibodies (which are also proteins), bind to chemical structures nearby. In this study, the lectins binded to sugar complexes on the viruses. This binding seems to render the virus inactive (just like antibodies do, except that HIV targets cells that work with antibodies to fight off infection, thus evading the immune response).
We need to be aware of a couple of things. First, this study was done "in vitro", at a lab. It was not done "in vivo", on human subjects. So, yes, the lectin protein (the "lec" in Ban Lec) may work. It has the potential, but it will take controlled, randomized clinical trials to determine if what is seen in the lab (in vitro) applies to the human being (in vivo).
This is true of all research studies from beginning to end; They need to be reproducible, coherent, and just plain make sense. It makes sense that lectins would inactivate HIV viruses. It's what they do. Can this be extrapolated to use in humans? Maybe. Only time and good clinical trials will tell.
CAUTION: Do not go replacing banana extracts or any purported extracts claiming to have this chemical for currently proven, recommended, and licensed medications/strategies for treatment and prevention of HIV infection. -
2Votesanswered Mar 17, 2010 at 04:40PMHi there, I have seen this article and it reports an interesting discovery. See full article here: http://www.jbc.org/content/285/12/8646.full.pdf+html
However, There is still a long walk to the finish line as far as this agent is concerned. The reason is because even though Ban lec has been shown to have this desirable property, it may not be the full story about Ban lec. Wonderful potential agents like this have been discovered and had to be flushed down because they either were found not to work in humans or because of other undesirable things they did to the human body ( examples Include Pfizer' figitumumab See full article from DailyFinance: http://srph.it/92Urhh and Capecitabine study in treatment of early stage breast cancer http://journals.lww.com/oncology-times/Fulltext/2008/06250/Early_Breast_Cancer__Failed_Trials_Said_to_Signal.4.aspx) It will require further studies; both in-vitro and in-vivo alike to qualify Ban lec as a useful drug in HIV management. I agree with Rene its too early to extrapolate this observation to humans. Think of it as a sweet smelling stew on fire. Yes it smells good but it does not mean its eatable just yet.... and it may never be, we simply have to wait and find out. -
1Votesanswered Mar 18, 2010 at 11:19AMLet's not confuse prevention and treatment. The only "currently proven, recommended, and licensed medications/strategies for . . . prevention of [sexually transmitted] HIV infection" are condoms and abstinence. The abstract's references to T-20 and maraviroc are unfortunate, since these are currently only licensed for treatment (though they're also being studied as microbicides/preventives, like BanLec).
And to echo Kizito Adejumo, an early potential microbicide (the spermicide nonoxynol-9) was found to actually increase HIV infection rates (presumably because it can be an irritant, which led to easier transmission). So, yes, more studies are needed.
(Note that other potential vaginal and rectal microbicides are also being studied; BanLec is only the newest.)
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