AIM By: Dr. Eliezer Ben-Joseph, N.D., M.D., (MA) and Dr. Malcolm Tollett, D.O.

I have been a practicing Naturopathic physician for over 25 years and since that time I have worked diligently to seek out new and better forms of natural remedies for disease in order to provide my clients with the best health care possible. Over the past two years I have been working with Dr. Malcolm Tollett who is the creator of an amazing new natural medicine called AIM (Advanced Immune Modulator).

Over twenty years has passed since HIV/AIDS was first reported in the United States and conventional therapies have changed little as to how they approach the treatment of the disease. Currently available therapies for HIV/AIDS exert their anti-retroviral effects at two post entry stages of viral replication. The nucleoside and non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors act to block viral DNA synthesis and the protease inhibitors work at a late step in the process of viral budding from the host cell wall. These medications, as may be expected, because they work in the same way have done little to help find a viable treatment regiment for HIV/AIDS.

Perhaps it is time for modern science to set back and take a few notes from Nature itself. Science might start with the simple question, "Why don't other animals get HIV/AIDS?" In fact it is interesting to note that certain animals seem to have incredible immune systems that make them seem resistant to most all viral infections, cancers, and autoimmune diseases.

Learning From Nature

As reported on the BBC news, "scientists in the United States isolated a powerful agent in the blood of Crocodiles that could help conquer human infections immune to standard antibiotics." These same agents have been isolated from the Kimono Dragon, Great White Sharks and from various carnivorous plants. Looking at these animals closer reveals that they posses the ability to regulate their immune responses much more effectively by producing certain bio-proteins that actually modulate the immune response.

These proteins achieve this by regulating the animal's complex cytokine and mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) pathways. It has been shown that these same proteins can be purified, sterilized, harvested, and utilized in humans to produce similar cytokine modulating effects.

AIM (Advanced Immune Modulator) is a remarkable unique therapy, invented by Dr. Tollett that does just that. AIM is a proprietary, 100% natural therapy that address HIV/AIDS from a new perspective focusing on the inhibition of viral binding and fusion to host cells. AIM has been found to be highly effective either as a single therapy or in combination with conventional antiretroviral medications.

In most diseases (including HIV/AIDS) a "cytokine storm" is triggered by the infection. Cytokines, (Interferon, the most widely recognized by the public), regulate the immune system. When released at the right times in the proper amounts they can help fight infections, yet many cytokines are inflammatory and are damaging to the body when present in too high levels or for too long.

AIM is composed of 100% natural bio-proteins that modulate the cytokine system in the body and are highly effective in the treatment of viral diseases (HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, and Influenza), as well as many auto-immune diseases (Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Lupus, and Rheumatoid arthritis). I have seen this medicine work first hand and the results seen are nothing less than amazing. It is refreshing to see a medication that yields results not in months or years yet rather in minutes to days.

AIM, initially was invented by Dr. Tollett to treat HIV/AIDS over 12 years ago. It inhibits HIV-1 and HIV-2 fusion with CD4+ T-cells by disrupting their ability to interact with the fusion dependent co-receptors CCR5 and CXCR4. It has been shown to demonstrate this activity both in vitro and vivo studies. The bio-proteins used in AIM accomplish this by attaching to and modulating the cytokine receptors thus preventing its interaction with invading organisms. Independent laboratory results show that AIM activity is not mediated by antibodies or exogenous cytokines such as interferon.

HOW IT WORKS
AIM exerts its effects by modulating the human cytokine system. Cytokines are bioporteins produced by our immune cells that regulate immunity, inflammation, and hematopoiesis. Once the body is invaded by an organism, the immune response we see is regulated by these cytokines. Simply speaking the cytokine system through a series of intricate cascades activates our immune system to attack the invading organism. Most of the time this is a desired response, however in dealing with HIV this activation is the "Trojan Horse" that leads to subsequent invasions of the human T-cell. In order to facilitate their entry into host cells some viruses actually have cytokine like proteins encoded into their genetic structure that stimulate the host cell's membrane receptors and thus make viral to host cell bonding easier.

Once the virus has activated the cellular cytokine receptors, it can then invade the host cell easily. This activation of the host cytokine receptor not only facilitates viral entry but also stimulates a complex cellular cascade known as the mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade which in turn seems to facilitate viral replication by "turning on" the host DNA/RNA replication systems.

HIV entrance into the targeted CD4+ T cell is a fusion dependant process. HIV must first interact with CD4 and then with a co-receptor. Binding of the HIV gp 120 envelope glycoprotein to CD4 induces conformational changes in gp 120 that create or expose a binding site for a co-receptor. Once available, the co-receptor binding site interacts with a complex, discontinuous region of the co-receptor. The association of gp 120 with CCR5 or CXCR4 then drives additional conformational changes within the host cell membrane, inducing fusion and subsequent entry.

The chemokine (cytokine) receptors CXCR4 and CCR5 have been identified as major co-receptors for HIV-1 entry into CD4+ T cells. The majority of primary HIV-1 isolates in early disease use the CCR5 as a co-receptor, whereas during disease progression with the emergence of SI (syncytium inducing) viruses, CXCR4 is also used.

AIM uses natural bio-proteins that have been found to effectively block the activation of these two chemokine co-receptors and thus prevent binding and fusion with CD4+ T cells. Thus AIM not only targets those strains of HIV utilizing mainly the CCR5 co-receptor but also addresses those strains that have mutated to use the CXCR4 co-receptor.

Amazing as it may seem, patients treated with AIM show no failures to treatment or no reports of mutated strains resistant to AIM therapy. Due to AIM's unique mechanism of action it has been shown to work very effectively as a single therapy or in combination with existing therapies. Laboratory analysis revealed AIM to show no adverse drug to drug interactions with other medications and to have a very low side effect profile. Drug toxicity studies also revealed AIM to posses a very low toxicity profile.

Due to AIM's mechanism of action, patients treated with AIM display rapid marked relief of constitutional symptoms and a steady marked reduction in viral load with most patients becoming viral load undetectable within 60 to 120 days. P24 antigen is also monitored during treatment phase to assess active viral replication. P24 antigen typically will also be undetectable within the same time frame. Patients are treated with a set protocol based on their initial viral load and CD4 counts.

Initial phase of the treatment entails self loading injections of AIM on days 1 through 3 of month one and then patients are given a single injection of AIM every month there after for a total of six months. Laboratory evaluation of patient viral load, P24 antigen, blood chemistry, and hematology are monitored monthly as well. After the initial phase of treatment with AIM patients are placed on a standard maintenance dose every three months there after.

AIM's novel mechanism of action, low side effect profile, lack of drug to drug interactions, low toxicity, easy self dosing schedules, and ability to eliminate patient constitutional problems make it a realistic and obvious choice in the treatment of HIV/AIDS.

In an effort to demonstrate AIM's effectiveness in the treatment of HIV-1 and HIV-2 viruses, I would like to submit a mini-trial of three patients whose selection criteria and laboratory records will be given pretreatment and throughout their treatment phase (once a month for 6 months). Over this time period AIM's effectiveness as a viable natural alternative treatment for HIV/AIDS will be demonstrated.

This paper is not intended as a medical cure but offered more for your information about what is happening in the alternative health community. This information has not been evaluated by the FDA.

Common sense must prevail, if you have not supplemented your health and well being with anything in the past, then you should consult your health care professional and evaluate for yourself if AIM may work for you.