Pretorius E, Smit E, Oberholzer H M, Steyn E, Briedenhann S, Franz R C
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Medicine of the University of Pretoria, South Africa.
Histol Histopathol. 2009 Apr;24(4):399-405. doi: 10.14670/HH-24.399.
The resistance of HIV strains to the available antiretroviral medication has become a major problem in the world today. This has forced researchers to investigate the possible use of alternative drugs such as homeopathic medicine (e.g. immunomodulators) to enhance the immune system of patients infected with HIV. Canova is an immunomodulator of herbal origin which is known to stimulate the host defense against several pathological states through the activation of the immune system. Blood platelets play an important role in homeostasis, thrombosis and the immune response by forming platelet aggregates. The ultrastructure of platelet aggregates of patients with HIV has been studied previously using SEM to determine the effect of HIV on the platelet morphology. Membrane blebbing and ruptured platelet membranes were observed which is indicative of apoptosis, revealing that HIV patients may develop thrombocytopenia as a result of peripheral platelet destruction. The aim of the current study was to investigate the effect of HIV on the morphology of platelets from patients treated with the immuno-modulator, Canova, compared to control individuals and HIV patients not on the Canova treatment. Blood was drawn from the individuals and the coagula were formed by adding human thrombin to the platelet rich plasma. Examination was done using SEM. CD4 counts were also determined. Slight morphological changes were seen when comparing the fibrin networks from the control, untreated HIV patients and the Canova-treated HIV patients, suggesting that HIV does not impact on the fragility of fibrin networks. In HIV patients there are bleb-like bulges on the membrane of platelets as well as membrane breakages visible on the aggregate, whereas in the Canova-treated patients membrane blebbing is far less pronounced and there are large areas of intact, smooth membranes with visible canalicular areas, suggesting that Canova protects the membranes of platelets and that blebbing does not appear in such great proportions as was found in the untreated HIV group. These results support and provide ultrastructural evidence for the results seen in previous research, where it is seen that Canova protects the immune system of immuno-compromised patients by keeping the ultrastructure intact thereby preventing the devastating cyto-destructive effects of HIV disease.
如今，艾滋病毒毒株对现有抗逆转录病毒药物产生耐药性已成为全球的一个重大问题。这迫使研究人员探索使用替代药物的可能性，比如顺势疗法药物（如免疫调节剂）来增强感染艾滋病毒患者的免疫系统。卡诺瓦是一种源自草药的免疫调节剂，已知它能通过激活免疫系统来刺激宿主抵御多种病理状态。血小板在体内平衡、血栓形成及免疫反应中通过形成血小板聚集体发挥重要作用。此前曾利用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）研究艾滋病毒患者血小板聚集体的超微结构，以确定艾滋病毒对血小板形态的影响。观察到膜泡形成和血小板膜破裂，这表明细胞凋亡，揭示出艾滋病毒患者可能因外周血小板破坏而出现血小板减少症。本研究的目的是，与对照组个体及未接受卡诺瓦治疗的艾滋病毒患者相比，研究艾滋病毒对接受免疫调节剂卡诺瓦治疗的患者血小板形态的影响。从这些个体采集血液，并通过向富含血小板血浆中添加人凝血酶来形成凝块。使用扫描电子显微镜进行检查。还测定了CD4细胞计数。比较对照组、未治疗的艾滋病毒患者及接受卡诺瓦治疗的艾滋病毒患者的纤维蛋白网络时，发现了轻微的形态变化，这表明艾滋病毒不会影响纤维蛋白网络的脆性。在艾滋病毒患者中，血小板膜上有泡状凸起，聚集体上也可见膜破裂，而在接受卡诺瓦治疗的患者中，膜泡形成远不那么明显，有大片完整、光滑的膜，可见小管区域，这表明卡诺瓦可保护血小板膜，且泡状形成的比例不像未治疗的艾滋病毒组那么高。这些结果支持了先前研究中的结果并提供了超微结构证据，即在先前研究中可以看到，卡诺瓦通过保持超微结构完整来保护免疫功能低下患者的免疫系统，从而防止艾滋病毒疾病造成毁灭性的细胞破坏作用。
