Boost Your Innate Immunity to Resist Infection

The innate immune system is the body’s first line of defense against infections like COVID-19 and influenza, responding rapidly to invading pathogens. While robust in young children, it weakens with age and poor health. Innate immune training occurs when immune cells are reprogrammed after initial exposure, improving future responses. This explains why children get more colds on the whole yet experienced milder COVID-19 symptoms. Unlike adults, their innate immunity was naturally stronger despite lacking prior exposure. A well-functioning innate system can often eliminate infections, but when overwhelmed, the adaptive immune system activates, targeting specific antigens such as the spike protein with antibodies.

An immune paradox

While effective against a specific pathogen, a strong adaptive immune response can reduce innate immune training by bypassing or shortening the innate systems engagement with a pathogen. When the adaptive immune system quickly produces antibodies and T-cell responses against a specific pathogen, it can neutralize the infection before the innate immune cells undergo sufficient training or reprogramming. This reduces the innate systems exposure to the pathogen, limiting its ability to develop a broader, more generalized response.

Additionally, vaccination or prior infection can prime the adaptive system to react so efficiently that the innate immune system has little need to mount a strong defense. While this is beneficial for immediate protection, it may result in reduced innate adaptability to future infections, particularly those caused by related but distinct variants.

In contrast, repeated natural exposure to infections can strengthen innate immune memory, a process known as trained immunity, which helps the body respond more effectively to diverse threats.

Furthermore, in the context of CoVID-19, both vaccination and severe infection can program the adaptive immune system to hyper-focus its response on the original Wuhan strain, even when encountering new variants. This well-known phenomenon is called immune imprinting.

The results below show that after a booster for a new COVID strain, the antibody response remained overwhelmingly directed at the original Wuhan strain, with minimal response to the booster strain (25,954 vs. 59).

If a single stable COVID-19 strain had persisted, immune imprinting would have been beneficial. However, the rapid emergence of new variants has made the imprinted antibody response less effective, leading to incomplete viral neutralization. Additionally, a mismatched (suboptimal) antibody response can still suppress innate immunity, further hindering its ability to adapt to evolving variants.

Unless severe, prior infection before vaccination may help reduce immune imprinting by training the innate immune system through natural exposure.

Another concern is antibody-dependent enhancement of infection (ADEI), seen after vaccination for dengue and other coronaviruses, where high titers of antibodies facilitate viral entry into cells instead of neutralizing the virus.

The combined effects of poor innate immune training, immune imprinting, and ADEI may help explain the Cleveland Clinic study by Shrestha et al., which found a strong correlation between increasing vaccine doses and higher COVID-19 infection rates.

Despite higher infection rates, most cases remained mild due to several factors. First, Omicron is less severe than earlier variants. Second, while suboptimal antibodies permit infection, they also help prevent severe disease by blocking the fusogenic effect that made Delta so dangerous. Although some of the newer strains are more fusogenic, these antibodies continue to provide protection.

However, a virulent strain could mutate to evade this protection, posing a serious risk if the innate immune system is untrained. Additionally, dominant strains are likely to retain features that enhance antibody-assisted viral entry, making antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) a potential driver of severe disease. In this scenario, an unprepared immune system could not only fail to stop infection but actively facilitate it, increasing the risk of rapid, severe illness.

So far, no dominant strain has bypassed this protection, but sporadic cases suggest that declining antibody levels may be contributing to hospitalizations and deaths which are rising once again.

Can innate immune function be augmented?

Whether due to aging or inadequate training, various strategies can enhance the innate immune response. In addition to healthy lifestyle practices, Luminnova Health recommends utilizing photodynamic therapy (PDT), photobiomodulation (PBM) and specific evidence based posrbiotics to boost the innate immune system in persons who are most at risk.

Lifestyle Practices

Health promoting lifestyle practices play a crucial role in shaping the effectiveness of the innate immune response. These include:

• OPTIMAL NUTRITION: we advise a plant rich diet, free of ultra processed foods with adequate intake of omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D.

• GUT MICROBIOME: It is estimated that over 70% of our immune cells are located in the gut and proper function of these cells is strongly dependent on the gut microbiome. Studies indicate that a plant rich diet and fermented foods promote a healthy mix of gut microbes. Specific probiotic supplements have also been shown to reduce the frequency of upper respiratory tract infections. Severity of CoVID-19 infection was also correlated with lower microbiome diversity.

• ADEQUATE SLEEP: Sleep disruption can impair immune function. Aim for 7-8 hours of restorative (good quality) sleep per night.

• EXERCISE: frequent, moderate exercise can have a profound beneficial impact on immune function. Even small increases in levels of activity can have significant benefit. On the other hand, prolonged high intensity exercise typical of elite athletes may actually have the opposite effect.

photodynamic therapy

PDT uses a photosensitizing agent activated by light to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which destroy cancer cells and infections. Since infected and cancerous cells are more vulnerable to ROS, PDT offers several immune benefits:

1. Rapid Viral Reduction - Destroys viruses within seconds, lowering viral load.

2. Innate Immune Boost - Eliminates infected cells, stimulating innate immune cell production and function, preventing system overload.

3. Innate Training - Activates and reprograms innate cells, enhancing future responses, especially to related pathogens.

Repeated PDT sessions further strengthen innate immunity, leading to broader immune activation.

Click here for more scientific references.

photobiomodulation

Photobiomodulation (PBM) uses light to stimulate biological processes, traditionally for wound healing and pain relief, but there is also evidence that it can enhance innate immunity.

Like PDT, PBM improves immune cell function and even optimizes specialized receptors involved in immune training. Notably, PBM stimulates mesenchymal stem cell production, supporting immune cell development in the bone marrow. It may also counteract age-related thymus decline, which affects immune response and infection resistance.

Click here for more scientific references.

Immune Boosting Postbiotic strains

The body hosts trillions of microbes, primarily in the gut, that tremendously impact overall health. Live cultures of these organisms are administered for their health promoting benefits. Postbiotics, bioactive compounds derived from probiotics, provide similar benefits without the logistical challenges of maintaining active cultures and safety issues of using live cultures in those with weakened immunity.

Postbiotics help reduce inflammation, prevent harmful bacterial growth, and strengthen the gut barrier, protecting against toxins. They also support glucose and lipid metabolism, potentially lowering obesity and type 2 diabetes, key risk factors for severe COVID-19. Research has also shown that specific strains of postbiotics like MCC1849 and L-137 enhance defenses by:

For immunity, postbiotics like MCC1849 and L-137 enhance defenses by a number of very important mechanisms:

• Helping immune cells detect harmful germs by up -regulating specialized pattern receptors

• Increasing interferon and other natural virus-fighting chemicals produced by the body

• Controlling inflammation to avoid harmful overreactions (cytokine storm)

• Strengthening natural killer cells and other immune cells that attack viruses

Clinical trials suggest postbiotics may lower viral infection rates and severity.

Click here for scientific references.

THERAPEUTIC RATIONALE of the Luminnova Innate Boost

The aim is to use PDT, PBM, and postbiotics to strengthen the innate immune response, thereby reducing the risk of severe CoVID-19 and other respiratory infections:

1. Significantly increase the general readiness of the innate immune system to tackle infection 

2. Leverage currently high CoVID-19 circulation to train immunity for future strains.

3. Lower viral loads in acute infections to help prevent immune suppression (reduced lymphocyte count)

4. Shift the immune response from the original CoVID-19 strain to current variants.

5. Lower the risk of other types infections by boosting broad immune readiness.

HOW CAN THIS BE ACHIEVED?

Sublingual PDT/PBM

Systemic PDT/PBM can be achieved by directing light therapy at appropriate wavelengths and power under the tongue (sublingually) thereby achieving a non-invasive, full body therapy. The light therapy can be administered alone or after giving an oral photosensitizer and timed to coincide with its peak absorption.

Patients sometimes report mild, transient myalgia (aching muscles) a few hours following the initial PDT sessions which appears to be related to activation of the innate immune response. In our experience, these treatments have resulted in expedited recovery of severe CoVID-19 disease, documented eradication of reactivated viruses like cytomegalovirus and significant clinical improvement in Lyme disease.

PBM Sternum

Treatment over the sternum bone in the chest has been recommended as a means of targeting both the thymus gland and the mesenchymal stem cells within the bone marrow.

Postbiotic Formulation

Luminnova Health has selected Flora-Matrix Postbiotics which contains evidence- based dosages of MCC-1849, L-137 and highly beneficial short chain fatty acids designed to optimize immune response and reduce inflammation

PLEASE NOTE:

It is important to note that these measures do not guarantee a specific level of protection. They should be used alongside other preventive strategies as needed (See Viral Defense).