October 1999 issue

Our health is directly influenced by our immune system.  The onset of almost all infectious and degenerative disease is preceded or accompanied by inadequate immune response.  With intensifying concerns about the perils of vaccinations and antibiotic resistant organisms, a new weapon against disease is sorely needed.  Transfer factors are such a weapon, and based upon almost 50 years of research, transfer factors appear to be highly effective with few, if any, side effects. 

If our immune systems are functioning normally, transfer factors are produced after we are exposed to infectious agents such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites.  Recent research, however, provides evidence that transfer factors, even from another animal such as a cow, can enable us to develop immunity to infectious agents before we are actually exposed to them.  In addition, transfer factor administration can accelerate our immune response once we have been infected.  This new approach to optimizing the immune response to infectious agents promises to revolutionize our approach to disease prevention and control!

The complete structure of any transfer factor has not yet been determined.  Researchers in the United States, Germany, Russia and China agree, however, that transfer factors are small molecule (3500 to 6000 molecular weight consisting of ribonucleic acid (RNA) bases attached to short amino acid chains called peptides.  Early research found that immunity to a specific pathogen could be transmitted by giving subcutaneous or intramuscular injections of lymphocyte extracts from a person previously infected with the disease to a person who had never been exposed to the disease.  This transfer of immunity was similar to a vaccination, except the recipient was never exposed to the pathogen and had none of the side effects associated with vaccination.  There was also no time delay as is associated with a vaccination - immunity was obtained almost immediately.

As the research progressed, it was discovered that this transfer of immunity, or transfer factor, could be taken orally, and the immunity was still successfully transmitted.  Transfer factor from human blood, however, is very expensive, and with the advent of the AIDS epidemic, doctors were very hesitant to administer human blood products to their patients.  Fortunately, it was discovered that the early mother's milk, colostrum, contains T lymphocytes and transfer factors.  The final research link that made affordable transfer factors possible was the discovery that transfer factor is disease specific, but not species specific.  Specific transfer factors from one species can deliver immunity to another species as long as the donor species has immunity to the correct pathogen.  This discovery made it possible to use cows to manufacture large amounts of human transfer factors relatively inexpensively.

Transfer factors are small molecular messengers produced by immune T lymphocytes.  The message they provide is a specific description of an invading pathogen.  Using transfer factors, immune T lymphocytes can transfer the ability to recognize an invading pathogen to previously naive lymphocytes.  In other words, one T lymphocyte tells another what the enemy looks like so that a coordinated attack can be mounted.

To keep your body healthy, your immune system must perform three important functions.  First, it must recognize a pathogen as a threat to the body.  Second, it must attack and kill off the pathogen.  Finally, it must remember the pathogen so your body can quickly destroy the pathogen the next time it is attacked.  The last step is also referred to as immune memory.  Although the exact T lymphocyte source of transfer factor has not been proven, we do know these T lymphocytes have immune memory and use transfer factor to quickly heighten our immune response when we are invaded by a pathogen to which we have been previously exposed. 

Transfer factors are not only useful for disease prevention but can also help with diseases already established due to inadequate immune response.  Since transfer factor-producing T lymphocytes are important in immune recognition and memory, impairment of transfer factor production could neutralize the rest of the immune response in otherwise healthy individuals.  Therefore, introducing transfer factors can sometimes enable a dysfunctional immune system to return to normal.

Another interesting feature of transfer factors is their ability to induce an immune response to not only the specific pathogen the transfer factor donor is known to be immune to, but also to related ones as well.  At first this might seem to be evidence that transfer factors are not specific.  It should be realized, however, that each pathogen can elicit the production of a large family of transfer factors.  Potentially at least one transfer factor will be produced for every part of the pathogen that the immune system sees.  If two microorganisms are related, they may display common structures that would be recognized by an immune system induced to respond by this family of transfer factors.  These microorganisms are said to display "cross-reactivity."  This feature makes transfer factor supplementation highly beneficial for diseases in humans that result from microbes that are similar to disease-producing pathogens in cows.

It is important to distinguish human transfer factor produced by cows from colostrum products that are readily available.  Colostrum contains a variety of immune related substances, including transfer factors.   However, the amount of transfer factors per gram of crude colostrum is very low.  Because there is an established dose dependent response for transfer factor, only a purified concentrate with the correct dose can counted upon to elicit an effective immune response.  A truly effective transfer factor must be assayed for transfer factor activity (in potency units).

Highly purified transfer factors extracted from cow colostrum are currently available as "polyvalent" transfer factor.  In the near future, specific transfer factors for herpes simplex viruses 1 & 2, Epstein-Barr virus, Varicella Zoster virus, and possible other viruses may be available.  Polyvalent transfer factor contains all of the transfer factors produced in the cow as the result of the cow's cellular immune response to the foreign microbes to which it is exposed.  These microbes can include bacteria, viruses, fungi and other parasites.  Exposures can occur as the result of vaccinations normally given to cows to insure their own ;health or as a result of natural exposure to microbes present in the cow's environment.

Transfer factors may be beneficial for men, women, and children of all ages, but those most in need are persons with a compromised or under-active immune system.  People with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, recurrent bacterial and viral infections, and chronic yeast infections are frequently in need of immune support.  Transfer factor is also beneficial for prophylactic use if a person is concerned about contact with pathogens for which transfer factor is available.  While we do not recommend transfer factors as a substitute for vaccination, it may benefit children for whom vaccination is contraindicated.  However,. transfer factors do not provide a permanent immunity and must be taken repeatedly.

Transfer factor research is on the cutting edge of immunology and promises to open new avenues for preventing and treating many diseases inflicting mankind.  As transfer factor research progresses, strategies for using it to direct the immune response against such diverse diseases as cancer, AIDS, or malaria could become available.

Greg B. Wilson, Ph.D., is a professor of Animal and Veterinary Science, Clemson University, Clemson, S.C., vice president of research and product development for Animune, Inc.  Jim Daily, III, Ph.D., is vice president for research and development for Daily Manufacturing, Inc.