Immunell™ (Nucleotides + Prebiotic Acacia)

Evidence ratings on NutraSmarts are based on the totality of human clinical research, with emphasis on randomized controlled trials, meta-analyses, and systematic reviews. The references below directly support claims made throughout this page.

1. J D Carver Dietary nucleotides: cellular immune, intestinal and hepatic system effects Journal of Nutrition. 1994;124(1 Suppl):144S-148S. doi:10.1093/jn/124.suppl_1.144S.PubMedUsed to support: Narrative review. The cell-mediated immunity findings it describes come from mice: spleen cells from animals on nucleotide-free diets produced less interleukin-2 and had lower natural killer cytotoxicity and macrophage activation, and nucleotide restriction in animals also reduced mucosal height and gut wall thickness. The one human observation is that at 2 months of age, infants fed breast milk or nucleotide-supplemented formula had higher natural killer cell activity than infants on unsupplemented formula. The review contains no adult human data.
2. A Gil Modulation of the immune response mediated by dietary nucleotides European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2002;56(Suppl 3):S1-4. doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601475.PubMedUsed to support: Narrative review of how dietary nucleotides influence lymphocyte maturation, activation and proliferation, macrophage phagocytosis, and gut-associated lymphoid tissue, along with lipid metabolism and tissue repair. Its human evidence is overwhelmingly from infants, where nucleotide-supplemented formula was associated with lower incidence and duration of acute diarrhoea. The author states that the molecular mechanisms by which dietary nucleotides modulate the immune system are practically unknown.
3. Yamamh Al-Jubori, Nazik Tayfour Babiker Ahmed, Rawan Albusaidi, James Madden, Srijit Das, Srinivasa Rao Sirasanagandla The Efficacy of Gum Arabic in Managing Diseases: A Systematic Review of Evidence-Based Clinical Trials Biomolecules. 2023;13(1):138. doi:10.3390/biom13010138.PubMedUsed to support: Systematic review of 29 clinical trials of gum arabic across conditions including sickle cell anaemia, rheumatoid arthritis, metabolic disorders, periodontitis, gastrointestinal conditions and kidney disease, reporting anti-inflammatory, prebiotic and antibacterial effects and changes in lipid, renal and blood pressure measures. The trials it collects used gram-level doses of gum arabic, far above the fraction of a gram present as a carrier in a 300 to 500 mg serving, and none of them tested gum arabic together with nucleotides.
4. C T Van Buren, A D Kulkarni, F B Rudolph The role of nucleotides in adult nutrition Journal of Nutrition. 1994;124(1 Suppl):160S-164S. doi:10.1093/jn/124.suppl_1.160S.PubMedUsed to support: Review reporting that mice on nucleotide-free diets lose T-cell maturation and resistance to bacterial and fungal infection, and that adding RNA or uracil prevents this, while extra protein and calories alone do not. The two double-blind clinical studies it summarises used Impact, a hospital enteral formula that contains arginine and fish oil alongside nucleotides, in post-operative patients. Because those three nutrients were given together in a tube feed, the improved immune function, fewer infectious complications and shorter hospital stay cannot be credited to the nucleotides on their own.
5. Mc Naughton L, Bentley DJ, Koeppel P. The effects of a nucleotide supplement on salivary IgA and cortisol after moderate endurance exercise. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2006;46(1):84-9..PubMedUsed to support: Fourteen moderately trained men completed 90-minute cycling trials before and after 60 days on a nucleotide supplement (n=7) or placebo (n=7). Salivary IgA fell after exercise in both groups at both time points, but was higher in the supplemented group than placebo after the supplementation period, and post-exercise cortisol was lower. Seven people per arm makes this a very small study, and it comes from the same laboratory and author group as the companion trial in trained men.
6. Dancey CP, Attree EA, Brown KF. Nucleotide supplementation: a randomised double-blind placebo controlled trial of IntestAidIB in people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Nutr J. 2006;5:16. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-5-16.PubMedUsed to support: Thirty-seven adults with irritable bowel syndrome took one 500 mg capsule three times daily or placebo for 56 days each in a crossover design. Symptom severity improved by about 4 to 6 percent over placebo, with incomplete evacuation and abdominal pain improving most; the differences for diarrhoea, bloating and flatulence were not statistically significant, the placebo response was large, and no psychological measure changed. The capsules were not a plain nucleotide product: alongside yeast nucleotides and RNA they contained fructo-oligosaccharides, glutamine, methionine, lysine, inositol and B vitamins, so the effect cannot be assigned to nucleotides alone, and the study was funded by the company that supplied the product.
7. Mc Naughton L, Bentley D, Koeppel P. The effects of a nucleotide supplement on the immune and metabolic response to short term, high intensity exercise performance in trained male subjects. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2007;47(1):112-8..PubMedUsed to support: Randomized trial in 30 moderately trained men assigned to a nucleotide supplement, placebo or no supplement for 60 days. After supplementation, post-exercise salivary IgA was higher and post-exercise cortisol lower in the nucleotide group than in either comparison group; blood lactate, lactate dehydrogenase and creatine kinase did not differ. Ten people per arm, and the supplement was a different product from the one described on this page.
8. Singhal A, Macfarlane G, Macfarlane S, Lanigan J, Kennedy K, Elias-Jones A, Stephenson T, Dudek P, Lucas A. Dietary nucleotides and fecal microbiota in formula-fed infants: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;87(6):1785-92. doi:10.1093/ajcn/87.6.1785.PubMedUsed to support: Randomized trial in which infants received formula with 31 mg/L added nucleotides (n=35) or control formula (n=37) from birth to 20 weeks, alongside a breastfed reference group (n=44). Stool analysis showed a lower ratio of Bacteroides-Porphyromonas-Prevotella to Bifidobacterium on the supplemented formula (mean difference -118 percent, 95 percent CI -203 to -34, P = 0.007), closer to the breastfed pattern. Fecal bacteriology was the only outcome; no immune marker or infection rate was measured, and the population is newborns rather than adults.
9. Riera J, Pons V, Martinez-Puig D, Chetrit C, Tur JA, Pons A, Drobnic F. Dietary nucleotide improves markers of immune response to strenuous exercise under a cold environment. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 2013;10(1):20. doi:10.1186/1550-2783-10-20.PubMedUsed to support: Twenty elite male taekwondo athletes took a nucleotide product (Inmunactive) or placebo for 30 days before an exhaustion test. Lymphocyte counts recovered faster in the supplemented group at 150 minutes and the lymphoproliferative response was higher, but salivary IgA showed no effect of treatment, time or test. Ten people per arm, a different nucleotide product from the one on this page, and the work was funded by the company that makes it.
10. Sterczala AJ, DuPont WH, Comstock BA, Flanagan SD, Szivak TK, Hooper DR, Kupchak BR, Lee EC, Volek JS, Maresh CM, Kraemer WJ. Physiological Effects of Nucleotide Supplementation on Resistance Exercise Stress in Men and Women. J Strength Cond Res. 2016;30(2):569-78. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000001108.PubMedUsed to support: Double-blind crossover study in 10 men and 10 women performing a heavy resistance exercise session after loading with a nucleotide supplement or placebo. Cortisol and myeloperoxidase fell immediately after exercise on the supplement and creatine kinase was lower at 24 hours, but the exercise session's effect on neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte counts showed no treatment difference. Twenty participants, and the product was not the one described on this page.