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Algae, an umbrella term
for seaweeds and the cyanobacteria commonly known as blue-green algae,
may provide insight into nutrition-based protection from AIDS. (8) Dramatic
differences in HIV/AIDS prevalence rates exist between algae-eating populations
in Eastern Asia (e.g., in Japan and Korea about 0.1% of adults are infected)
and much of Africa, where infection rates could be 20% or higher. (9) Dietary
algae are considered a staple food in countries like Japan and Korea where
HIV is uncommon. On average, about a tablespoon of dried seaweed is eaten
daily in these countries. (10) In northern central Africa, consuming the
blue-green alga spirulina appears to be protective against HIV for the
people of Chad, a country where people have lived in political instability
and civil war for twenty years, but rates of HIV have remained less than
5%. There, where blue green algae are a common market product sold in blocks
of dried green powder, people eat about 2 to 3 tablespoons of spirulina
per day. (11) Since algae are already a part of common cuisine, its safety
is unquestioned. Even in the U.S., where algae are rarely eaten, both seaweed
and blue-green alga spirulina have been granted Generally Regarded as Safe
status by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (12, 13)
Editor’s Note:
Refer to the Nov/Dec 1996 HIV ReSource Review issue for an early
review of blue-green algae.
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Algae extracts have been
used against a variety of enveloped viruses, including HIV, SIV, herpes
simplex virus (HSV)-1 and 2, human cytomegalovirus, measles virus, mumps
virus, influenza A virus and human immunodeficiency virus-1. (1,2,5) The
apparent mechanism of action is to disrupt the fusion of HIV to lymphocytes.
(1,3) Studies of spirulina suggest that not only is HIV fusion inhibited,
its presence, at least in cell culture, keeps syncytium formation at a
minimum and five times the amount of HIV was required to infect cells.
(6) Crude hot water extract reduced HIV-1 replication by 50%. Healthy cells
were unaffected. Undaria (“wakame”) extract, the most commonly eaten seaweed
in Asia, decreased the number of HIV infected cells by almost half after
three days. (14), and when given to rats infected with erythroleukemia,
a rat model for HIV, was as effective as AZT (a common antiretroviral).
(15) Both Undaria and spirulina, unlike AZT, were effective in preventing
infection when given three days before virus inoculation. Currently, seaweed
gels containing carrageenan, a red seaweed, are being clinically tested
as vaginal microbicides to block HIV. (16) A clinical study of oral spirulina
given to healthy men for three months resulted in enhanced immune response.
(4)
Ninety-five percent of
the world’s AIDS patients live in poor countries where only 7% of the patients
can afford drugs. The slogan of the 2004 UNAIDS conference was “Access
for All” suggesting that all people should have access to antiretroviral
drugs (ART). In addition to the cost however, one third of the people who
might otherwise qualify for ART can not tolerate the side effects of the
drugs. Rapid evolution of HIV has made viral resistance another important
barrier to effective treatment. In countries such as South Africa, an estimated
80% of the population turn only to traditional healers for their health
care, herbs and incantations are the treatments of choice. (17)
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