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Mango Bark Used in HIV/AIDS Fight |
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By Patricia Grogg*
Cuban scientists discovered that the bark of some varieties of this tropical tree holds a potent antioxidant that can be used to improve the quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS.
HAVANA - Vimang, a Cuban product made from an extract of some varieties of mango tree bark, improves the quality of life of people with HIV/AIDS and could turn into an effective complement to antiretroviral treatments, says a study conducted by a group of Cuban scientific organizations.
The report summarizes the findings of investigations made in 2001 with volunteer patients, concluding that the Vimang formula, already proven to fight oxidant stress, is effective in reducing the damage that tends to become chronic in persons with AIDS.
The natural process of oxidation becomes oxidant stress when it reaches the rate of producing what are known as "free radicals", or other oxidant substances, which reduce the human body's antioxidant defense systems.
This imbalance between oxidants and antioxidants is linked to an array of pathologies.
In the case of AIDS, one of the most dramatic causes of oxidant stress is the loss of CD4 blood cells, a type of T-lymphocyte that plays a central role in the immune system. Its presence in the blood is an indicator of the organism's degree of protection against disease.
"Shortly after beginning to take Vimang, my appetite improved and I have more energy," Alicia Lafernal, 43, a woman who has lived with AIDS for the last 10 years and is treated at the Santiago de las Vegas hospital near Havana, told Tierramérica.
Nobody would guess that Mariela Mendoza, 48, a nurse at the same hospital, has been HIV-positive for the last 17 years. "I continued to take it after the study ended because my general health improved a great deal. I feel really good," she said in a conversation with Tierramérica.
Weight increase, feeling of general well-being, more energy and greater appetite are the description repeated among the patients who took eight Vimang tablets daily for six months as part of the clinical trial.
The study assessed the use of Vimang as a nutritional supplement for patients with HIV or AIDS, tracking its levels for possible renal, liver and blood toxicity.
It is not an attempt to substitute the normal diet, but rather to complement it in order to help the organism recuperate the equilibrium lost as a result of disease, says Lizette Gil, biochemist at the Pedro Kouri Institute of Tropical Medicine, specialized in HIV/AIDS treatment.
"We are attempting to stabilize the metabolic disturbances, the process of oxidant stress that is not controlled by any currently available therapy," Gil told Tierramérica.
In an initial stage, when the CD4 cell count of the patient is above 350 per cubic mm of blood, the treatment is based on vitamin and nutritional supplements, in which Vimang can play an important role, says Alejandro Alvarez, a doctor at the Institute.
As AIDS advances, causing the CD4 cell count to fall below 350, treatment with antiretrovirals begins, because they reduce the presence of the virus (HIV) in the organism, added Alvarez.
People with full-blown AIDS in Cuba have been treated using this approach for the last two years. "The global use of antiretrovirals has prolonged the life of the patient, but has not eliminated the collateral effects that harm the quality of the patient's life," explained Gil.
That is where Vimang has proven to be useful.
The mango-based product may also have indirect effects on the replication of the virus. Scientists are preparing a new investigation, this time to last one year and with 350 volunteer patients, to determine Vimang's effect on HIV. The product could ultimately form part of the treatment that all Cubans with HIV/AIDS receive.
Manufactured by Cuba's Pharmaceutical Chemistry Center, Vimang has proven effective as an immune system modulator, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antispasmodic. Although for now it is sold only in some pharmacies on this Caribbean island, it is also used in treating cancer, infertility and lupus.
* Patricia Grogg is an IPS correspondent.
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