In the future, there's a chance this technology will be used to help sick patients corral viruses like HIV, which causes AIDS. Several studies, all plagued by methodological limitations of one kind or another, have examined the potential utility of transfer factors in the treatment of HIV. Several have found promising results, particularly when transfer factors were combined with standard antiviral drugs. However, the majority of such studies utilized extracts from human white blood cells and dosing regimens in which the extracts were injected into patients using an arbitrary schedule. With the advent of potent, stable preparations of transfer factors from cows and chickens, it should be possible for the real work to begin. Hopefully, in the near future, researchers will attempt to attack the HIV virus using aggressive, well-planned dosing regimens of transfer factors raised against the HIV virus in cows and chickens. If strategies used in the past yielded positive outcomes, better findings should be possible now. Time will tell.

One of the truly appealing aspects of using transfer factors for disease treatment and prevention is that it circumvents the need to involve the traditional pharmaceutical companies. Transfer factors are made by companies promoting alternatives to standard drug company treatment modalities. The products fall well within the bounds of being considered supplements under the DSHEA of 1994 and the companies make absolutely no claims about the effectiveness of these amino acid sequences in treating diseases (please see the text box at right). Nothing stands in the way of private foundations purchasing and distributing transfer factors to populations that could benefit from them, including some sufferers of Lyme, CFIDS, MS, Fibromyalagia, HIV/AIDS and other conditions. There are no guarantees that transfer factors would help such folks, but the safety margin and cost effectiveness, combined with the potential to improve the quality of life of those suffering from chronic, immune system-related ailments warrants consideration. Some formulations cost about as much as a good multivitamin and appear to be about as safe.

Hopefully, in the near future, double-blind, well-controlled clinical studies will establish appropriate treatment protocols for transfer factors. For the time being, the available literature and real world experience will have to remain the primary driving forces behind the course of treatment.