Case reports of sarcoma patients with optimized lectin-oriented mistletoe extract therapy.

Background: Mistletoe (Viscum album L) extracts (ME) are widespread as immunomodulatory therapeutic agents in alternative tumor treatment. Assessing the often-controversial clinical results is rather difficult since the effects of ME on the immune system cannot be equally reproduced. Mistletoe lectins (ML) are the only mistletoe ingredients also found in vivo that are capable of having a positive effect on the immune balance of patients with tumors.

Difficulties and perspectives of immunomodulatory therapy with mistletoe lectins and standardized mistletoe extracts in evidence-based medicine.

Viscum album preparations are aqueous mistletoe plant extracts used in complementary and alternative medicine as immunomodulators in cancer therapy. However, evidence of immunological efficacy of mistletoe extracts (MEs) used in clinical trials is often lacking. Mechanisms involved in anti-tumor properties of ME and mistletoe lectins (MLs) modify both innate and adaptive immune systems, according to animal model experiments.

Unexpected different binding of mistletoe lectins from plant extracts to immobilized lactose and N-acetylgalactosamine.

Mistletoe Extracts (ME) are of growing interest to pharmacological research because of their apoptosis-inducing/cytostatic and immunomodulatory effects. The standardization of the three different groups of Mistletoe Isolectins (ML-I, II and III) is often rendered more difficult since the primary structures are nearly identical. Their classification is based on their Galactose- and N-acetyl-D-galactosamine (GalNAc)-specificity which was measured by various inhibitory assays.

Investigation of the effect of mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extract Iscador on the proliferation and apoptosis of murine thymocytes.

Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) extracts (ME) have been shown to exhibit a bell-shaped curve of immunological efficacy and mistletoe lectins (MLs) were found to play an important role in this phenomenon. The aim of present in vivo study was to investigate the acute- and long-term effect of a standardized ME (Iscador M special) on thymocyte subpopulations and peripheral T cells using a murine (Balb/c) model.

Effects of mistletoe extract on murine thymocytes in vivo and on glucocorticoid-induced cell count reduction.

Background: Mistletoe extracts are widely used in cancer patients due to their cytostatic and immunomodulatory effects. Essential components include mistletoe lectins which act as biomodulators with proinflammatory and apoptosisinducing effects. This study investigates the acute and longterm effects of standardized mistletoe extract (Iscador(R) M spec 5 mg) on thymocyte subpopulations and peripheral T-cells using a murine (Balb/c) model.

Galactoside-specific plant lectin, Viscum album agglutinin-I induces enhanced proliferation and apoptosis of murine thymocytes in vivo.

Galactoside-specific plant lectin, Viscum album agglutinin-I (VAA-I) has been shown to act as a biomodulator with proinflammatory and apoptosis-inducing effects, however its cellular targets and mechanism of immunobiological action in vivo are less well understood. Therefore, in the present work the short- and long-term in vivo effects of VAA-I on thymocyte subpopulations and peripheral T cells were tested using a murine (Balb/c) model. Cell surface CD4/CD8 staining and flow cytometry allowed us to follow the changes of thymocyte subpopulations: CD4-CD8- double negative (DN), CD4+CD8+ double positive (DP), CD4+ or CD8+ single positive (SP) and mature peripheral T cells after single or repeated injections with low doses of VAA-I.