Natural CR mimetic

[corybroo]

Medicalxpress has an article  Simulating amino acid starvation may improve dengue vaccines   https://medicalxpress.com/news/2019-11-simulating-amino-acid-starvation-dengue.html

Eating a low-calorie diet can … improve the immune system's function. A new study finds that, in mice, a compound used in herbal medicine can give a similar immune boost if given before vaccination—no dieting required.

plant-based compound called halofuginone improves the immune response to a potential vaccine against dengue virus. Halofuginone tricks the body into thinking it is starving for amino acids, which activates a pathway that results in more, and better, antibodies that are better at neutralizing the virus.

halofuginone activates a pathway called the amino acid starvation response

It mimics amino acid starvation in the body by blocking the enzyme that links amino acids to the molecules that deliver them to the site of protein production.

In the current study, researchers injected some mice with halofuginone and some with an innocuous salt solution, then inoculated all of the mice with a potential dengue vaccine. Then they looked for differences in the immune response to the vaccine in the two groups.

Mice that received halofuginone produced twice as many antibodies against the virus … halofuginone resulted in antibodies that more effectively neutralized the virus.

 halofuginone works specifically by encouraging the formation of germinal centers in the lymph nodes and spleen.

 

[mccoy]

Interesting, that's yet another of the many plant-based compounds which boosts the immune system in a very specific way.