Ask. Dr. D'Adamo

I have difficulty losing weight and was interested in perhaps taking Deflect to "scrub" my body clean of all those nasty lectins adhering to my insulin receptor sites (they are probably all wheat lectins). Anyway, I read your article on Deflect, describing how it contains sacrificial carbohydrates to which lectins attach. My question is this....how do you know that a lectin happily sitting on a fat cell's insulin receptor site will want to move to a sacrificial carbohydrate? Why would it prefer the sacrificial carbohydrate over my fat cell?

ANSWER: To understand the answer to this question we should understand the nature of lectin binding. Lectins bind to carbohydrates reversibly or irreversibly. This is dependent on the shape characteristics of both the sugar that they are specific for and nature of the amino acid residues to which the sugar is linked to the cells wall. Small changes in the structure of the sites, such as the substitution of only one or two amino acids, also result in marked changes in specificity and avidity (the degree, or force of the attraction). Thus, although the sugar is the point of specificity, the amino acid 'stalk' determines much of the particular binding characteristics. (1) Some evidence also indicates that coordination with metal ions may occasionally play a role too.

The sugar is linked to the lectin mainly through charge attraction via covalent (electron sharing) bonds. The individual electron within these clouds of electrons are always moving.

Sometimes the one area of the cloud is more dense than another. This leads to the formation of a transient dipole within the molecule. The transient dipole can induce a dipole in an nearby molecule, by attracting its electrons. The attraction between the two oppositely oriented dipoles is termed a van der Walls interaction. In essence, van der Walls forces tend to 'push' the molecules towards each other, while shape conformity tends to 'pull' them towards each other.

Thus the attraction between lectins and carbohydrates is determined by both shape and charge.

One factor which influences agglutination is the zeta potential which surrounds the negatively-charged surface of the cell. Almost all particles in contact with a liquid acquire an electronic charge on their surfaces. Because of the large amount of sialic acids on the cell membrane the zeta potential is a bit more neutral compared to the charge on particles in suspension which are a bit more negatively charged. Most lectins are very highly positively charged.(3) Thus two amino sugars of similar shape can have two different levels of lectin avidity due to differences in their relative charge.

If we add to this slight structural differences in the amino acid residues between carbohydrates embedded in the cell membrane matrix and free carbohydrate in suspension, we get the force difference necessary to overcome the rather weak covalent bonds and van der Walls forces.

Just how 'hot' is this concept? Here's a summary from a just-published article:

"It is thus justified to compare crucial carbohydrate epitopes with the postal code ensuring correct mail routing and delivery. In view of the functional relevance of lectins the design of high-affinity reagents to occupy their carbohydrate recognition domains offers the perspective for an attractive source of new drugs. Their applications can be supposed to encompass the use as cell-type-selective determinant for targeted drug delivery and as blocking devices in anti-adhesion therapy during infections and inflammatory disease." (2)

Although completely unrelated, two other reasons amino sugars can be of use in weight management therapies:

1. They bind dietary fat. (4)

2. They increase production of the 'anti-fat' hormone, leptin (5) Leptin* acts on receptors in the hypothalamus of the brain where it inhibits food intake counteracts the effects of neuropeptide Y (a potent feeding stimulant secreted by cells in the gut and in the hypothalamus).


Click here for more information on DEFLECT products and lectin binding.

1. Sharon N, Lis H. Related Articles Lectins--proteins with a sweet tooth: functions in cell recognition. Essays Biochem. 1995;30:59-75. Review.

2. Rudiger H, Siebert HC, Solis D, Jimenez-Barbero J, Romero A, von der Lieth CW, Diaz-Marino T, Gabius HJ. Medicinal chemistry based on the sugar code: fundamentals of lectinology and experimental strategies with lectins as targets. Curr Med Chem. 2000 Apr;7(4):389-416. Review.

3. Monsigny M, Roche AC, Sene C, Maget-Dana R, Delmotte F. Sugar-lectin interactions: how does wheat-germ agglutinin bind sialoglycoconjugates? Eur J Biochem 1980 Feb;104(1):147-53

4. Han LK, Kimura Y, Okuda H. Reduction in fat storage during chitin-chitosan treatment in mice fed a high-fat diet.Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord 1999 Feb;23(2):174-9

5. McClain DA, Alexander T, Cooksey RC, Considine RV. Hexosamines stimulate leptin production in transgenic mice. Endocrinology 2000 Jun;141(6):1999-2002

* Not lectin!

STUDY: Quercetin in men with category III chronic prostatitis: a preliminary prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

JOURNAL: Urology 1999 Dec;54(6):960-3

AUTHORS: Shoskes DA, Zeitlin SI, Shahed A, Rajfer J.

ABSTRACT: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) category III chronic prostatitis syndromes (nonbacterial chronic prostatitis and prostatodynia) are common disorders with few effective therapies. Bioflavonoids have recently been shown in an open-label study to improve the symptoms of these disorders in a significant proportion of men. The aim of this study was to confirm these findings in a prospective randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. RESULTS: Both the quercetin and placebo groups were similar in age, symptom duration, and initial symptom score. Patients taking placebo had a mean improvement in NIH symptom score from 20.2 to 18.8 (not significant), while those taking the bioflavonoid had a mean improvement from 21.0 to 13.1 (P = 0.003). Twenty percent of patients taking placebo and 67% of patients taking the bioflavonoid had an improvement of symptoms of at least 25%. In the 17 patients who received quercetin in the open-label study, 82% had at least a 25% improvement in symptom score. CONCLUSIONS: Therapy with the bioflavonoid quercetin is well tolerated and provides significant symptomatic improvement in most men with chronic pelvic pain syndrome.

COMMENTARY: Chronic prostatitis is a troublesome condition that can be difficult to control. Typically, long term antibiotics (doxycycline) are considered the only effective treatment (curiously, not because of their anti-microbial effects, but rather because of their probable anti-inflammatory effect). Quercetin is available in many forms and may offer a safe and effective means for many men to control this painful problem. Quercetin is also an effective inhibitor of digestive allergy (it stops basophil degranulation; the process by which histamine is released into the gut and a fairly potent anti-mutagen.

Is the pneumovax vaccine still recommended for blood type O,as mentioned in ER4YT? I did not find it recommended in LR4YT. Regards!

In ER4YT I recommended the Pneumococcal vaccine ('Pneumovax') as a potential way to increase the levels of anti-A antibodies. This is desirable as many common cancers are 'A-like'. Since type O's and B's can manufacture anti-A, this provided a simple, safe and effective way to 'retrain' their immune systems into thinking that any such cancer bet treated like an improper blood transfusion.

Unfortunately, the element in the Pneumovax that induced anti-A antibodies turned out to be an 'impurity' and further refining of the vaccine was performed to eliminate it.

However, in re-evaulating the work of Georg Springer for my book Live Right 4 Your Type, it became evident that the typhoid vaccine conveyed even more beneficial elements. In addition it is employable by type As and ABs.

Georg F. Springer, MD, spent over 20 years harnessing the potential of the immune system to combat cancer. Although his treatments were outside of the mainstream, he was anything but (coming from a very traditional medical and research background). Originally, a pioneer in work with blood group antigens, Springer dedicated his life and his unique expertise to breast cancer after his wife died from this disease. His work eventually led him to the development of what is known as "Springer's Vaccine" and his reported five and ten-year survival rates for stage II, III, and IV breast cancer with this novel T (Thomson-Friedenreich) and Tn antigen therapy are nothing short of amazing when compared against standard treatments.

Springer's work capitalized on this difference between healthy and cancerous cells and his knowledge of the immune system to create a vaccine, which specifically stimulated the immune system to fight cells with these stumps (T and Tn antigens). His vaccine consisted of three parts: 1) chemically degraded O-group blood cells (providing T and Tn antigens), 2) the Salmonella typhii vaccine or typhoid vaccine (which contains T and Tn antigens), and 3) calcium phosphate (he believed the T and Tn antigens could stick to this).

His protocol entailed giving his vaccine to patients subcutaneously (under the skin), initially at 6-week intervals, eventually extending the gap to 12 weeks. For people receiving chemotherapy, he would wait 3 to 4 weeks after cessation of the last round of chemotherapy prior to beginning his treatment. In the case of radiation, he would wait 1 to 3 months after the last dose of radiation prior to initiating treatment. He recommended that his patients receive this vaccine "ad infinatum".

Many malignant cells (such as those found in breast and stomach cancer) develop a tumor marker called the Thomsen-Friedenreich (T) antigen. This antigen is suppressed in normal healthy cells, much like a rock is covered over by water at high tide. T antigen only becomes 'unsuppressed' as a cell moves towards malignancy, much like the covered rock in our example becomes uncovered as the tide moves out. It is so rare to find the T antigen in healthy tissue, that most people actually have and antibody to it. T antigen is both 'M' and 'A' like. Springer's work and several other independent studies have shown that the injectable Typhoid vaccine (not the oral form) can increase the levels of circulating anti-T.

Typhoid vaccine is commonly used when peopel travel to endemic areas of Typhoid infestation, such as Africa or South East Asia. It is a safe vaccine with an superior safety track record. While this vaccine cannot be expected to produce the outcomes Springer appeared to be achieving, it is one of the only options that I am aware of for possibly promoting increased amounts of T and Tn antibodies. As such it offers a potential to work in an area that is ignored in most cancer protocols. At its worst it will offer you a degree of protection against typhoid. This vaccine is safe for all blood types.

For more information consult the typhoid vaccine entry in the Immunology Knowledge Base.



1. Springer GF, Desai PR, Tegtmeyer H, Carlstedt SC, Scanlon EF. T/Tn antigen vaccine is effective and safe in preventing recurrence of advanced human breast carcinoma. Cancer Biother. 1994 Spring;9(1):7-15.

2. Springer GF. T and Tn pancarcinoma markers: autoantigenic adhesion molecules in pathogenesis, prebiopsy carcinoma-detection, and long-term breast carcinoma immunotherapy. Crit Rev Oncog. 1995;6(1):57-85. Review

Is it possible to obtain a list, by region or state, of practitioners who subscribe to your methods? If there is an list presently on your site, under which hyperlink do I look?

You can locate a practitioner who utilizes the blood type theory from the Practitioner Registry. It is organized by state, and does include some international listings. Use this handy lookup tool to find IfHI certified practitioners and educators in your location.