A nutrient discovered by an Iowa State professor and marketed as the muscle-enhancing substance called HMB is now being tested as a possible way to improve the immune system of AIDS patients.

Although tests will not be completed until January, early results show that HMB, a popular product among athletes, is having a positive effect on patients.

“Of the few patients that are being tested, a half dozen or so have done extremely well,” said Steve Nissen, a professor in animal science. “We’re pretty optimistic.”

Nissen said the nutrient can improve the immune systems of AIDS patients by increasing the the number of t-cells in the blood.

“You can give patients Kool-Aid and some of them will show improvement,” Nissen said. “But it’s pretty hard to will your t-cells back up.”

Nissen spoke to associate professor Richard Haws’ journalism class Thursday.

HMB, or B-hydroxy B-methyl butyraye, was discovered by Nissen eight years ago during extensive studies of lucine. “It wasn’t a ‘Eureka, I found it’ type of thing,” he said.

HMB is made from an amino acid found in breast milk and is an exact replica of the what humans produce naturally, Nissen said. Nissen said he is unsure of exactly how HMB works but said it has something to do with cholesterol. “Your muscle cell has a lot of compounds and cholesterol is one of them,” he said. “HMB functions by providing a precursor to cholesterol in the muscle.”

Although it can have a similar effect, Nissen said HMB is different from steroids because steroids are synthetic, modified and chemically altered.

Nissen said the use of HMB has also proven to result in a six- to eight-percent increase in endurance — one reason why many Iowa State swimmers use the nutrient.

HMB sells for about $35 for a 10-day cycle of 120 capsules. It is the leading athletic supplement on the market. Of the profits HMB has made since last February, when it was first put on the market, Iowa State has received 4 percent, about $100,000.

After being encouraged by ISU to establish a separate company, Nissen has spent the last six years doing $2.5 million worth of research under the name Metabolic Tech, Inc.