GcMAF: a polemic or a highly promising molecule?

Vitamin D Binding Protein (DBP) is a multifunctional protein which main role is to carry vitamin D and its metabolites, but it also acts as an actin scavenger and is the precursor of the macrophage activating factor molecule (GcMAF), which has reported highly promising results against cancer, HIV, and neurological disorders including autism, Alzheimer disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), among others. DBP leads to the formation of GcMAF due to the loss of the O-glycosylated oligosaccharide moiety of the peptide by glycohydrolysis mediated by T and B cells. Some of the current noticed diseases have got increased levels of α-N-acetylgalactosaminidase (Nagalase), a molecule that deglycosylates DBP so it cannot drive to GcMAF, leading to immunosuppression. In this review we take a close look at the state of art strategies and trials using GcMAF as well as the controversies that have emerged during the last decade with this ‘polemic’ molecule.