AHCC Association Hosts Annual Symposium

SAPPORO, Japan—The 16th International AHCC® (Active Hexose Correlated Compound) Symposium was held here in late July, hosted by the AHCC Research Association, and drew more than 300 medical doctors and researchers from around the world to present and discuss research studies completed with AHCC. Individuals attending this year’s event included representatives from Harvard Medical School, Yale University School of Medicine and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Researchers from Yale presented preliminary findings from a clinical study that confirmed AHCC significantly enhances the immune system that may support both healthy immune function and work as a cancer preventive. In the trial, conducted in collaboration with researchers in Japan, participants took AHCC for 60 days while investigators checked production and blood levels of two key cytokines—Interferon (IFN-γ) and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF-α)—at baseline, 30 days and 60 days. Results demonstrated production of these cytokines by white blood cells increased within four weeks of taking the recommended dose of AHCC; the immune-enhancing effect persisted for at least a month after stopping the daily dose.

The two keynote presentations from researchers in Japan focused on the value of AHCC in cancer therapy. Professor Emeritus Masuo Hosokawa of Hokkaido University gave an overview of the completed research on the effects of AHCC in reducing the side-effects of chemotherapy. The second keynote featured Professor Emeritus Yasuo Kamiyama of Kansai Medical University, whose research investigated AHCC as a complementary therapy to pharmaceuticals in post-operative cancer patients along with cancer patients having additional complications

A scientific review study soon to be published in Nutritional Reviews was presented by Barry Ritz, Ph.D., Drexel University. The paper is an overview of published research studies on the positive effect of AHCC on the influenza virus, the avian “bird flu” virus (H5N1), the West Nile virus, the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the Klebsiella pnuemoniae and the Candida albicans viruses. It was reported that supplementation with AHCC modulated immunity and delivered positive results in response to acute infections.

AHCC is derived from the hybridization of several species of medicinal mushrooms, cultivated in Japan and then produced from a specialized manufacturing process. It is manufactured by Amino Up Chemical Co. in Sapporo, Japan, and distributed in the United States by Purchase, N.Y.-based Maypro Industries. Maypro sells AHCC to a number of leading supplement companies including Quality of Life Laboratories, a subsidiary of Maypro. The AHCC Research Association was founded in 1986 to promote further study.