[Gocamino] The Turista Two-Step in Carrión de los Condes

[Grant Spangler]

Recent discussions have surrounded the gastric distress suffered by many in 
the deep Meseta. Carrión de los Condes and it’s immediate neighbors seem to 
be a hotspot for turista type trauma. Although the exact source of the 
malady remains uncertain, here is some recent news which may help prevent 
viral forms of gastroenteritis. Ultreya.

>From the Why Files ... http://whyfiles.org/shorties/179cranberry/

Cranberry juice has long been a prime natural-food weapon against urinary 
tract infections in women, and studies show that the good juice deters 
infection by preventing disease-causing bacteria from entering body cells. 
One study found that when cranberry juice was present, 80 percent fewer 
bacteria stuck to cells. Adhering to a host cell is the first step in a 
successful infection.

Could cranberry juice also protect cells from viruses?

Apparently so, according to research just reported by Patrice Cohen and 
Steven Lipson of St. Francis College (Brooklyn, N.Y.). When the researchers 
bathed animal cells in the red juice (we'll call it juice, but it's actually 
cranberry juice cocktail, straight from the supermarket!), virtually none of 
the cells got infected by reoviruses or rotaviruses, two common causes of 
diarrhea. (The researchers used red blood cells and kidney cells, which are 
common tests for viral infectivity.) Undiluted juice reduced infectivity by 
more than 99.9999 percent. When cells were bathed in diluted juice, the 
protection waned. Juice diluted by 512 parts of water offered no protection.

Slug a slug, slug a bug

Adhesion may be even more crucial in viral infection than in bacterial 
infection. Viruses must make copies of themselves -- or else they 
disintegrate -- but they can't reproduce until they enter a cell and 
commandeer its nucleus. And the first step in entering a cell is adhering to 
the cell membrane.

But in electron microscope photos, Lipson's research group saw the virus 
particles floating free of the blood cells. These particles are goners, says 
Lipson, who was principal investigator of the research project. "If a virus 
is not attached, it simply degenerates. It needs a living cell to reproduce. 
Once it's prevented from binding to the host, it would degenerate within 
hours," or perhaps longer for an especially stable virus.

While some anti-viral medicines, including many used against HIV, go to work 
only after the virus enters a cell, it's better to prevent entry in the 
first place.

In other words, the best defense is a good defense, and that's just what 
happened with the tangy red juice. "The primary result, based on our 
experiments ... is that the virus particles did not penetrate, and therefore 
they were just benign," Lipson says. "They were not infectious."

Since the researchers used whole cranberry juice cocktail, they don't know 
which chemical is causing the protection. (Cranberry juice is about 4 
percent of the total ingredients, which also contains a raft of high 
fructose corn syrup.) It's unlikely that acidity alone is responsible: Red 
blood cells held at pH 3.5, the acidity of cranberry cocktail, were not 
protected against infection without the juice.

And also …

CRANBERRY JUICE MAKES INTESTINAL VIRUSES INACTIVE

Results of a recent study, presented at the 105th General Meeting of the 
American Society of Microbiology, suggest that cranberry juice may have 
naturally-occurring anti-viral activity. Researchers from St. Francis 
College in Brooklyn, New York, presented findings from an investigation 
designed to explore the occurrence and mechanism of cranberry juice cocktail 
on two mammalian enteric pathogens from the family Reoviridae.

The family Reoviridae is divided into nine genera, four of which can infect 
humans and animals. The researchers used intestinal monkey rotavirus SA-11 
and a pool of goat intestinal reoviruses as model intestinal virus systems. 
Cellular inoculation with undiluted cranberry juice cocktail reduced 
reovirus infectivity and produced a marked loss of rotavirus penetration, 
suggesting that the anti-viral components in cranberry juice may interfere 
in the early stages of the viral replication cycle.

Researchers used a variety of methods to measure time, dose and loss of 
viral infectivity comparing cranberry juice (CJ) against a control of 
phosphate buffered saline (PBS). They and also examined the possible effect 
of pH.

Time: CJ produced an almost instantaneous loss of reovirus infectivity.
Dose: Dose response experiments showed a reovirus inactivation at a CJ 
dilution of < 1:16.
Infectivity loss: CJ reduced reovirus infectivity to levels below the 
sensitivity of the infectivity assay.
pH: Researchers ruled out low pH as the mechanism by which CJ reduces 
infectivity by control comparisons and concluded that one or more of the 
anti-viral components in CJ are responsible for the total loss of 
infectivity.

Viruses cause 30 to 40 percent of infectious diarrhea cases in the United 
States and viral gastroenteritis is the second most common illness, after 
upper respiratory infections. Rotaviruses cause enteric disease with 
symptoms characterized by diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal discomfort and 
fever. The virus affects mainly infants and young children and is 
responsible for 50 percent of hospitalizations of children with diarrhea. 
The naturally occurring anti-viral components of cranberry juice may be 
useful in preventing or treating these intestinal viral infections.

Reference: Cohen, P. et al. Mechanism(s) of Inactivation by the American 
Cranberry of Mammalian Enteric Viruses. 105th General Meeting, American 
Society for Microbiology, 2005.


Saludos a todos,


Grant

Grant Spangler
GASpangler at hotmail.com
http://groups.msn.com/ElCaminoSantiago
http://community.webshots.com/user/ElCaminoSantiago