Pure Research Products
Contact: Pamela Sichel
(303) 530-7761
jsichel@ecentral.com
EUPROBIO 2008 presentation to highlight
latest immune research
Presentation to focus on a new dietary supplement resulting from years of study by leading research scientists in Russia, Ukraine and Bulgaria, Del-Immune V
(Oct. 2, 2008) – On Thursday, October 16, 2008 at the EUPROBIO 2008 Conference, an abstract entitled “Immune regulatory cytokines Del-Immune V® induction and its impact on cytotoxicity of natural killer cells” will be presented to physicians, researchers and educators. Attendees to the presentation will learn about the latest advancements in this field of research. After seeing the study abstract, conference organizers made last-minute changes to the conference schedule to include a presentation of this ground-breaking research.
The abstract is based on a recent study focusing on Del-Immune V®, a new immunomodulator containing DNA and peptoglycan fragments of lactobacillus rhamnosus V. The study, which confirms that this formulation enhances immune function, was conducted in the Ukraine by several of Europe’s foremost research scientists.
Among other findings, the study demonstrated that daily administration of Del-Immune V® within 5 days raised a level of circulating interferon up to 4.2±0.5 log2 u/ml (P <0.05) against 2.0±0.3 log2 u/ml of the controls. Interferons are the switches that help cells resist viral infection and provide the initial, crucial immune response to immune challenges. The results of this latest research demonstrate the immune modulator activity of Del-Immune V® and the potential value the dietary supplement may have in clinical situations.
Del-Immune V® is a dietary supplement containing a natural culture that starts with healthy bacteria originally found in unpasteurized milk. Unique technological processing of the Del-Immune V® formulation creates a natural immunostimulant. The study described above and other research indicates that Del-Immune V® could be beneficial in assisting the body in its natural role of protecting the body from germs, viruses and other bodily invaders.
Del-Immune V® dietary supplements are produced in the United States. Thousands of people take Del-Immune V® on a regular basis and doctors have reported positive results, including an enhanced resistance to cold and flu and a restorative effect on the immune system.
The EUPROPBIO 2008 Conference will be held October 15-18, 2008 in Cracow, Poland at Auditorium Maximum.
PRESS RELEASE, FEB 8TH, 2008
Pure Research Products
Contact: Pamela Sichel
(303) 530-7761
Russian cold-war era probiotic immune biotechnology gaining physician fans
Pure Research Products
Contact: Pamela Sichel
(303) 530-7761
(Pure Research Products) -- A cold-war era Soviet doctor and scientist, General Vsevolod Ogarkov, had no idea the fruits of his bio-warfare research program would be used by 21st century American doctors and patients for immune system support and to beat winter colds and flu.
Thirty years later, a Colorado pharmacist has found his retirement has taken unexpected directions as a result of Ogarkov’s research program.
During the 1970s, Ogarkov’s researchers were studying lactobacillus bacteria, which made sense to the Russians, as these bacteria are found in traditional Eastern European foods such as yogurt. Called “probiotics” in current market jargon, the researchers believed these natural bacteria held a key to jump-starting the human immune system. By “lysing,” or processing the cells into pieces, the Russians designed a product to protect the Soviet army from bio-warfare agents such as anthrax.
After his 1998 retirement, business associates introduced pharmacist John Sichel to the Russian product, called “Preparate.” When he discovered the cell-wall fragment powder eliminated his daughter’s hepatitis C symptoms in 1999, Sichel shared it with friends, who reported relief from everything from chronic coughs to chemotherapy and radiation side-effects. Many said cold and flu symptoms disappeared in four to 24 hours.
The details of the story read like a Michael Crichton novel, but the short version is that Sichel began marketing the product as a nutritional supplement in 2002, moving manufacturing from St. Petersberg, Russia to Indianapolis, Ind. His company, Pure Research Products, now has a customer base of over 15,000. Sichel has done virtually no advertising – business has grown via word-of-mouth out of his Boulder basement. The product has fans, including medical doctors, in all 50 states and in 10 countries.
“I find this product of significant value for treating patients with chronic disease, where someone has been ill for a period of time with infectious agents and micro-organisms. It has a restorative effect on the immune system after damage from malnutrition, stress and infection,” said Dr. Roger Mazlen of Roslyn, N.Y. Dr. Mazlen added that he has used the product in over 500 patients with no contra-indications or side effects.
New studies on the American-made product confirm the Russian researchers’ findings. Research shows that the lysed lactobacillus cell fragments increase levels of immune activity, specifically natural interferons – important keys to immune function. The research also shows significant increases in tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and natural killer (NK cells).
“If you had told me 10 years ago this would happen, I wouldn’t have believed it,” Sichel said. With his “big pharma” background from marketing Valium in the 1960s, Sichel added that reported results are more in-line with a drug than a nutritional supplement.
Other doctors are giving the product, called “Del-Immune V,” to patients. “This product is consistently safe, effective and has no side effects,” said Dr. Elin Ritchie of Taos, N.M. Ritchie added that teachers are its biggest fans, reporting a significant reduction in winter cold and flu bouts.
“We often see liver and stomach problems in chemotherapy and radiation patients,” said Dr. Lee Rienierts of Melville, Western Australia. “On Del-Immune V, many of those problems clear up.” Dr. Reinierts, also a biochemist and geneticist, added that he regards the product as a highly effective immune booster.
Information is available at www.delimmune.com.
Soviets Took Probiotics to the Next Level, Say Researchers at U.S. Probiotic Firm
BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 15
PRNewswire-FirstCall
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During the Cold War Era of the 1960s, Russian researchers were looking for ways to support the immune system in conditions running the gamut from cancer to bio-warfare agents. Eastern Europeans, with a cultural love of fermented milk products, logically looked to probiotics, or lactobacillus, for immune support because it was safe, cheap and effective.
A Bulgarian researcher and medical doctor, Dr. Ivan Bogdanov, researched lactobacillus bacteria in the 1960s. Bogdanov believed that specific strains of probiotics could have anti-tumor properties. The doctor's research team injected mice with a sarcoma cancer, then administered a crude mixture of cell fragments from a strain of Lactobacillus delbrukii. Bogdanov observed that the cancer disappeared within a few days. Subsequently, researchers attempted to re-grow cancer in the same mice, but without success -- the mice seemed immune to the cancer cells.
In the 1970s, a Soviet-owned biotech company, Enzymes Ltd., worked on developing products for protection against bio-warfare agents such as anthrax. The researchers discovered that not only did probiotic cell fragments support healthy immune function -- they offered protection from radiation sickness and cell damage. "We used a lactobacillus cell fragments after Chernobyl, conducting experimental work on animals exposed to radiation, then later on humans," said Dr. Luba Shynkarenko, former dean of the Institute of Biotechnology at the National Technical University in Kiev, Ukraine. Shynkarenko also worked for Enzymes, Ltd. in 1986 at the time of the Chernobyl accident. "We found the cell fragments provided protection from radiation cell damage, and also anti-mutagenic activity, which meant the genetic material was protected from radiation. The main damage of radiation is destruction of the bone marrow cells and genetic damage that causes cellular mutation," she said.
American-made Del-Immune V is the first probiotic cell-fragment immune support products available in the U.S. market. This is a direct descendant of Shynkarenko's Chernobyl research, and is gathering a broad fan-base that includes doctors and health practitioners in all 50 states. "I find this product of significant value for treating patients with chronic disease, where someone has been ill for a period of time with infectious agents and micro-organisms. It has a restorative effect on the immune system after damage from malnutrition, stress and infection," said Dr. Roger Mazlen of Roslyn, N.Y. Dr. Mazlen added that he has successfully used the product in over 500 patients with no contra-indications or side effects.
Pure Research Products
Contact: Pamela Sichel
(303) 530-7761
Are Muramyl Peptides the magic bullet in probiotics?
Boulder, Colo. – Magazines like Time, Newsweek, and U.S. World and News were all buzzing last week about the latest health trend, probiotics.
Researchers have found compelling evidence that these friendly bacteria are an important key to digestive and immune health, but Eastern Europeans have been on to the health benefits of probiotics, found in fermented foods such as yogurt, for centuries. While Western medicine is beginning to tout the probiotic benefits, Russian scientists have been aware of these benefits for decades, and took investigations further by deconstructing the friendly bacteria to study cell components.
In fact, Russian and Ukrainian researchers used special strains of probiotics as raw materials for high-powered immune-support supplements during the Cold War period up until the mid-1980s. Soviet Scientists, responding to directives from their government, found that cell pieces of specific strains of probiotics, or lactobacillus bacteria, had a powerful protective action against bio-warfare agents. The researchers also discovered the probiotic cell pieces helped protect cancer patients against the effects of radiation and chemotherapy, were safe, and had no side-effects.
The Russian scientists discovered one key to these results are muramyl peptides, part of the complex sugars that become available when probiotic cells are fractured in the “lysing” process, which digests the cell well. Eastern European researchers have been using the lysing technique for several years, but the laboratory technique is barely on biotech manufacturing radar in the U.S.
“Comparing a live probiotic and a lysed one, in terms of immune system support, is like comparing a Ford Taurus to a Lamborghini,” said Dr. Elin Ritchie of Taos, N.M. Dr. Ritchie has been using a lysed lactobacillus product, Del-Immune V, for the last five years in cases including colds and flu. Ritchie has also had success with cancer patients. “I have given the product to hundreds patients. The product is clearly safe, and has no contra-indications with drugs or other supplements,” she said. Dr. Ritchie added that teachers are the product’s biggest fans, as it helps them avoid the worst of the winter crud.
Other doctors are using the lysed cell product as well. “I have been recommending this product (Del-Immune V) for many patients. When I began using it, I couldn’t believe its effectiveness in a variety of immune issues,” said Dr. Ted Hayashida of Gardiner, Calif.
Research shows the striking effects of lysed probiotics are due to muramyl peptides in the cell fragments. ““European doctors went deeper to understand the healthy role of probiotics decades ago, and used the bacteria as a jumping-off point for a new bio-technology, In simple terms, muramyl peptides regulate the correlation between different branches of the human immune system. When probiotics are lysed, the muramyl peptides become bio-available. The muramyl peptides organize an immune response to foreign invaders and environmental pathogens,” said Dr. Luba Shynkarenko, former dean of the Institute of Biotechnology, National Technical University, Kiev, Ukraine.
During the 1980s, Shynkarenko worked as a Soviet microbiologist, and saw her research on lysed probiotics develop into products used for everything from adjunctive cancer therapies to radiation protection after the Cherynobol accident. Now living in the Boulder, Colo., she said she would like to see deeper probiotic research in the West. Shynkarenko is not surprised to see Del-Immune V, the grandchild of her original research, gaining popularity among patients and doctors, even though it is a nutritional supplement. “Healthy flora bacteria are the answer to a multitude of health issues – discovery in the West has really just begun,” she said.
For information, visit www.delimmune.com.
One pharmacist's curiosity should be infectious
By PAUL DANISH
Retired Boulder pharmacist John Sichel has found a second career selling a preparation that he says offers (as the saying goes) fast, fast, fast relief from maladies ranging from flu to anthrax. The active ingredient is a protein from a strain of lactobacillus discovered in un-pasteurized milk.
The product, named Del-Immune V, is being sold as a nutritional supplement (at www.delimmune.com). After 9/11, Sichel asked the government if it would be interested in testing the product as a way of protecting troops against anthrax. It wasn't.
The government's lack of interest is not entirely surprising. For decades, people have been making claims for nutritional supplements that involved more wishful thinking than hard science. As a result, when nutritional supplements are mentioned in the same sentence as deadly diseases, Serious People tend to get fidgety.
However, the origin of this particular product suggests it merits some serious investigation.
Del-Immune is not the creation of the alternative medicine world. It was developed for the Red Army by a research team at one of the former Soviet Union's leading biological warfare laboratories. According to Sichel, the research was undertaken following the accidental release of anthrax from a biological weapons complex near the city of Sverdlovsk (since renamed Ekaterinburg) on April 2, 1979, causing at least 64 deaths.
The accident convinced the Soviet military it needed a protective substance that could be used in case of an enemy attack with biological weapons. It wanted something fast acting, simple to use, and cheap to produce (the last so it could stockpiled in large quantities). The also wanted it to work against a variety of possible bio-warfare threats in addition to anthrax, including smallpox, botulism, and plague.
The Soviet Researchers quickly concluded the two most obvious avenues of research - antibiotics or vaccines - wouldn't produce satisfactory solutions. Vaccines generally don't work quickly enough and antibiotics can be defeated by the weaponization of new strains of bugs.
Instead, the researchers attempted to develop a product that would sufficiently stimulate a person's immune system to allow it to fend off whatever pathogen was thrown at it.
The work was conducted at the State Scientific Center Research Institute of Highly Pure Bio-preparations in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). The researchers tested more than 600 types of immune-related substances. They found what they were looking for in the cell wall of a bacillus now identified as lactobacillus rhamnosus. It could be turned into a medication by breaking up the cells and collecting the cell wall fragments (a process called lysing).
Sichel says Del-Immune works by activating biological switches called cytokines that turn on the body's "innate" immune system, the immune system that you're born with. This system reacts swiftly to threats. (The body has a second immune system as well, the "acquired" immune system, which responds to vaccines and is slower acting.)
The results of the research were kept secret, so secret that most of the researchers didn't know how well their compound was performing, Then, as the Soviet Union was collapsing, the project was shelved in 1986. The remaining samples languished in a refrigerator until 1992, when one of the scientists associated with the project obtained the commercial rights to the product in lieu of back pay.
Sichel got interested in 1999, when a group of American investors who had obtained samples of the product asked him to help them find a U.S. manufacturer. He tried for a year, unsuccessfully.
Then one evening he got a call from his daughter and his ex-wife. They had both come down with the flu and wanted to know if he had anything for it. He gave them some of the Russian samples. Overnight their symptoms had disappeared.
His daughter, who also suffered from Hepatitis C, kept taking the drug. She reported her symptoms vanished. A subsequent blood test revealed virus had completely disappeared.
That prompted Sichel to investigate distributing the product - not as a drug but as a nutritional supplement. This was possible because lactobacillus strains have been consumed by humans since they started drinking milk and eating cheese and yogurt.
To back up his claims, he has more than a dozen Russian research, along with a growing body of anecdotal evidence from U.S. patients and doctors who report dramatic results.
Does this stuff really work? I don't know. But given its origins, given the real threat of bio-terror attacks in the U.S., and given the escalating concern that current antibiotics are losing their effectiveness, it would be nice of someone in the government had the intellectual curiosity to find out.
(Published in the Colorado Daily April 24, 2005)
| *This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent disease. |
