March 15, 2010

Chemical in Bananas May Prevent and Treat HIV

A chemical in bananas has been found to inhibit HIV, according to research findings from a University of Michigan Medical School published in the March 19 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. According to the study authors, this may lead to the development of inexpensive microbicides to prevent HIV transmission and, quite possibly, novel compounds to treat the disease.

Mannose-specific lectins—naturally occurring chemicals in plants that bind to sugars on the surface of disease-causing microorganisms such as viruses—have been of interest to researchers, given their ability to halt the chain of reaction that leads to a variety of infections. 

The test tube studies conducted by Michael Swanson, a doctoral student at the University of Michigan, and his colleagues, indicate that a lectin isolated from the common banana binds to the sugar-rich HIV envelop protein gp120. Not only may this prove useful in the development of vaginal and rectal microbicides to prevent HIV transmission, Swanson and his fellow authors speculate, but the HIV-inhibiting lectin—dubbed BanLec—may also have therapeutic potential.

The University of Michigan team discovered that BanLec is similar in potency to Fuzeon (enfuvirtide) and Selzentry (maraviroc), two U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved fusion/entry inhibitors. Swanson’s group argues, however, that BanLec could be cheaper to create than current antiretrovirals, which use synthetically produced components.

BanLec may also provide a wide range of preventive and therapeutic protection against drug-resistant virus. “The problem with some HIV drugs is that the virus can mutate and become resistant, but that’s much harder to do in the presence of lectins,” Swanson said. “Lectins can bind to the sugars found on different spots of the HIV envelope, and presumably it will take multiple mutations for the virus to get around them.”

Swanson pointed out that the clinical use of BanLec is years away. But he is currently developing a process to molecularly alter BanLec to enhance its potential clinical utility.

Search: banana, musa acuminata, BenLec, Swanson, University of Michigan, gp120, entry inhibitor

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Previous Comments:

stanley, Jinja, 2011-11-16 08:26:07
if bananas could cure HIV then all the ugandans will be cured as its their staple food,what about coconuts?how many bananas shld one eat a day?

See-eye-told-Ya, , 2010-07-21 17:56:55
There are a TON of natural anti viral substances out there! Use them. Here are just a few. And please Google them 1st and consult your doctor. The following substances have all been documented studies in peer review medical journals as well. Olive leaf, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Astragalus, Phyllanthus niruri, green tea, Pau D’Arco bark, Mangosteen, Virgin Coconut Oil! I could go on!

Peace, , 2010-07-14 13:49:32
Please, Dr. find a CURE for us. Please, Please, Please... Now I will eat banana everyday!

stacy, galeton pa, 2010-07-10 16:03:43
Let the Banana Jokes begin!!

Gerald, kisumu, 2010-07-01 05:34:30
this is quite encouraging,keep it up waiting to hear more

David Gee, Halifax, 2010-06-24 22:17:07
Well it did display? I had a large (planters?) wart on my hand that my MD and my dermatologist kept throwing creams, etc. at for several months. No change. So I taped banana skin (yellow side up) to it. New piece each day. Planter wart disappeared in less than a month. Never came back.Curious little fruit!

R.Beatty, Baltimore, 2010-06-16 15:58:30
I eat bananas just about once every day,plus I am on Truvada/Isentress.Within three months on the meds/bananas my CD4 went from 625 to 897 and viral load from undetected less than 50 copies to undetectable less than 28.7 copies.I've had the virus from age 14 to now I am 41.Thank God for His MANY Blessings and the DRs./meds.Those are just numbers which is good,but a CURE is greatly needed.

David, G. Canada, Ottawa, 2010-06-05 19:03:16
I believe that Mr. Swanson ought not be discourages. The HIV virus was not created in a lab; the remedy is unlikely to be found there. I was provided with creams and liquid nitrogen therapy for a wart that would NOT go away for months. I treated it by applying the inside of a banana skin. The wort disappeared in weeks. The applications of bananas against viruses is remarkable.

beckyy, lagos, 2010-03-25 08:13:37
May God almiighty gives you and everyone involved in the wisdom to see this research thr. amen.

soupset19, orlando, 2010-03-20 14:58:11
I REALLY HOPE THAT THEY STICK TO THIS AND HOPEFULLY IT WORKS I AM 19 YRS OLD AND WAS DIAGNOSE LAST YEAR I AM NOT ABLE TO LIVE A NORMAL LIFE BECAUSE I FELL IN LOVE...INSTEAD OF HAVING A BABY I CONTRACTED THE DISEASE PLEASE PLEASE WORK HARD TO FIND A CURE

william emmanuel oyuga, Nairobi kenya, 2010-03-18 12:40:05
THIS IS GREATEST NEWS HAVE EVER READ IN THE FIGHT AGAINST HIV . AM SO GREAT FULL TO THIS RESEARCH AND WISH TO OFFER MORAL SUPPORT IN THIS MAY GOD SEE YOU THROUGH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THIS EPIDEMIC

brima daramy lamina, Bo Sierra Leone, 2010-03-16 06:35:10
I am So pleased with this reseacher. He have done more than a man could do. This HIV is becoming a very big problem in the world. It is better that he have done such a blessed reseach. May God bless you all that were in this research. My brother in law died due to this ~HIV sickness.