Anthrax is a disease that affects humans and animals and tends to be highly lethal. Anthrax spreads by spores and is difficult to study due to its lethality. The Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces conducted a study which showed that orally administered Beta Glucan (given without antibiotics) protected mice against anthrax infection. Antibiotics given along with Beta Glucan for eight days prior to infection with the anthrax bacteria protected mice against anthrax infection over a 10-day test period after being infected with anthrax. Mice treated with antibiotic alone did not survive. Read Study.[1]
A second study was done to evaluate effectiveness of Beta Glucan when administered after anthrax exposure and the results were that 80-90% of the mice treated with Beta Glucan survived compared to only 30% of the untreated mice after 10 days of exposure to anthrax. Beta Glucan appears to work by binding and strengthening macrophages (white blood cells) which are the first line of defense when dealing with bacterial infections. These stronger cells are better able to fight off infection and appear to be able to kill the anthrax spores before they have a chance to spawn the deadly toxins.
