Immunopharmacological activity of Echinacea preparations following simulated digestion on murine macrophages and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

We have investigated the immunostimulatory, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities of various Echinacea raw materials and commercially available products on murine macrophages and human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). To emulate oral dosing, a simulated digestion protocol was employed as a means of sample preparation. Echinacea-induced macrophage activation was used as a measure of immunostimulatory activity determined via quantitative assays for macrophage-derived factors including tumor necrosis factor alpha, interleukin (IL)-1alpha, IL-1beta, IL-6, IL-10, and nitric oxide. Echinacea herb and root powders were found to stimulate murine macrophage cytokine secretion as well as to significantly enhance the viability and/or proliferation of human PBMCs in vitro. In contrast, Echinacea extracts chemically standardized to phenolic acid or echinacoside content and fresh pressed juice preparations were found to be inactive as immunostimulatory agents but did display, to varying degrees, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.

Human monoclonal antibodies to the V3 loop of HIV-1 with intra- and interclade cross-reactivity.

Five human anti-V3 mAbs were generated from Ab-producing cells derived from the blood of HIV-1-infected individuals from North America and selected using the V3 peptide of a divergent clade B isolate, HIV(RF). The anti-V3(RF) mAbs were mapped to a cluster of three overlapping epitopes present in the KSITKGP sequence located in the hypervariable region on the N-terminal side of the V3 loop. Broad immunochemical cross-reactivity was noted when the mAbs were tested for binding to V3 peptides derived from four clade A viruses, nine clade B viruses, and two clade C viruses. These results demonstrate antigenic relatedness in the V3 regions of these three HIV-1 clades. Affinities determined by surface plasmon resonance were higher for recombinant gp120 than for V3 peptides, suggesting that these mAbs recognize both linear and conformationally dependent epitopes of the V3 loop. Two of the mAbs neutralized four clade B T cell line-adapted and primary isolates with varying degrees of potency. The two neutralizing mAbs were the most cross-reactive with V3 peptides from several clades, had the highest affinity for V3(RF) and V3(MN), and stained HIV-infected cells. The data suggest that cross-reactivity, affinity, cell surface staining, and neutralizing activity are characteristics that describe an optimal fit between Ag and Ab. The results also demonstrate that the V3 peptides representing the sequence of several clade A, B, and C viruses share antigenic features that are recognized by the human immune response, a finding that suggests that cross-clade immunity to HIV-1 may be inducible by HIV-1 vaccines.

Neutralization of HIV-1 primary isolates by polyclonal and monoclonal human antibodies.

To examine antibody-mediated neutralization of HIV-1 primary isolates in vitro, we tested sera and plasma from infected individuals against four clade B primary isolates. These isolates were analyzed further for neutralization by a panel of several human anti-HIV-1 mAb in order to identify the neutralizing epitopes of these viruses. Each of the HIV-1+ serum and plasma specimens tested had neutralizing activities against one or more of the four primary isolates. Of the three individual sera, one (FDA-2) neutralized all of the four isolates, while the other two sera were effective against only one virus. The pooled plasma and serum samples reacted broadly with these isolates. Based on the neutralizing activities of the mAb panel, each virus isolate exhibited a distinct pattern of reactivity, suggesting antigenic diversity among clade B viruses. Neutralizing epitopes were found in the V3 loop and CD4-binding domain of gp120, as well as near the transmembrane region (cluster II epitope) of gp41. A mAb directed to the cluster I epitope of gp41 near the immunodominant disulfide loop weakly neutralized one primary isolate. None of the mAb in the panel affected one primary isolate, US4, although this virus was sensitive to neutralization by some of the polyclonal antibody specimens. This isolate was also resistant to neutralization by a cocktail of 10 mAb, most of which individually inhibited at least one of the other three viruses tested. These results suggest that neutralizing activity for this latter virus is present in certain HIV-1+ sera/plasma, but is not exhibited by the mAb in the panel. Thus, effective neutralizing antibodies against primary isolates can be generated by humans upon exposure to HIV-1, but not all of these antigenic specificities are represented in a large panel of human anti-HIV-1 mAb.

Resting cell neutralization assay for HIV-1 primary isolates.

A technique is described for detecting the activity of neutralizing polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies against HIV-1 primary isolates. Most commonly, neutralizing antibody activity for HIV-1 is assessed by quantifying the ability of antibodies to inhibit virus infection in mitogen-activated peripheral blood mononuclear cells or transformed lymphocytes. Because the target of HIV infection in vivo is neither a mitogen-activated nor a transformed cell, an assay using unstimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells as a more physiologic target cell was developed. This "resting cell assay" mainly utilizes primary HIV-1 isolates that have been carried for only a few passages in vitro. The result is an assay that is more efficient to perform and that detects neutralizing activity with comparable or greater sensitivity than that previously described for assays of primary HIV-1 isolates.

Neutralization of a clade B primary isolate by sera from human immunodeficiency virus-uninfected recipients of candidate AIDS vaccines.

The inability of antibodies induced by experimental human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) vaccines to neutralize HIV-1 primary isolates may be due to a failure to elicit such antibodies, antigenic differences between the vaccine and the strains tested, insensitivity of the assays used, or to a combination of factors. New neutralization assays were used to determine the ability of candidate AIDS vaccines to generate neutralizing antibodies for clade B primary isolate BZ167, which is closely related in portions of its envelope to the immunizing strains. Sera from HIV-uninfected volunteers in vaccine trials were tested, and neutralizing activity was found in recipients of recombinant (r) gp120MN or of rgp160MN-containing canarypox boosted with rgp120SF-2. Detection of antibodies that neutralize primary isolate BZ167 correlated with neutralizing activity for homologous vaccine strains. These data demonstrate that certain candidate AIDS vaccines can elicit antibodies that neutralize a primary isolate of HIV-1.