Homeopathy最新文献

Background Whilst it is assumed that water plays a crucial role in homeopathy, it is unclear what specific functions water has in the generation, propagation and maintenance of homeopathic potencies. Solvatochromic dyes have demonstrated themselves to be reliable indicators of the presence of potencies and so are well placed to begin to address these questions.

Objective The aim of the current study was to ascertain whether pure water could be potentised. If pure water can be potentised, this would indicate that water plays a crucial role in the generation of homeopathic potencies. If it cannot be potentised, then this result points to water being an inert carrier and medium for the potentisation of substances placed in it.

Methods A specially designed potentiser capable of consistently and reliably producing homeopathic potencies to rigorous standards (Pinkus Potentiser) was used to run up potencies of “Water 10M” and Arsenicum 10M in two interchangeable stainless-steel vials. “Water 10M” and Arsenicum 10M, along with unsuccussed control water, were then tested against solutions of the solvatochromic dye phenol blue by following the absorbance of the dye at 658 nm.

Results “Water 10M” gave results no different statistically from unsuccussed water (p > 0.05) with no change over the time course of the experiments, whereas Arsenicum 10M gave statistically different results (p < 0.001) with increasing divergence from both “Water 10M” and unsuccussed water over time. Similar results were obtained when the vials in which Arsenicum 10M and “Water 10M” were produced were exchanged, so that the vial in which Arsenicum 10M had been produced was then used to produce “Water 10M” and vice versa, indicating the results could not be explained by any anomalies in the production vials themselves.

Conclusion Results using the solvatochromic dye phenol blue to detect and measure homeopathic potencies indicate that bulk water itself does not potentise and that unsuccussed water and water that has been succussed are no different. This indicates that what is potentised during cycles of dilution and succussion are the substances placed in water and not the water itself. In turn, this indicates that water is simply a carrier for the homeopathic signal. Evidence from the practice of homeopathy supports this conclusion.

Background The therapeutic effectiveness of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their secretome can be enhanced by means of physical, chemical and biological preconditioning. Arsenicum album 30C (AA30) has been one of the leading homeopathic medicines used in prophylaxis against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Aims This study aimed to investigate whether AA30 preconditioning could influence the growth factors and cytokine profile of the human dental pulp-derived MSC (DPD-MSC) secretome. Also, to test the efficacy of the AA30-preconditioned DPD-MSC secretome in ameliorating the lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cytokine storm in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) as an in-vitro cellular model.

Methods The cytotoxicity of AA30 was assessed in DPD-MSCs by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. Growth factors and cytokine levels in the AA30-preconditioned DPD-MSC secretome were analysed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis. The angiogenic potential of the AA30-preconditioned DPD-MSC secretome was assessed by chick yolk-sac membrane (YSM) assay. Culture medium with 0.001% ethanol was used as vehicle control. The efficacy of the AA30-preconditioned DPD-MSC secretome in ameliorating the cytokine storm was assessed in LPS pre-treated PBMCs. The mRNA and protein expression of inflammatory markers such as IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 were analysed by using RT-PCR and FACS analysis respectively.

Results AA30 did not exhibit cytotoxicity in the concentration range of 1% to 50%. Furthermore, the AA30-preconditioned DPD-MSC secretome exhibited a significant increase in the levels of angiogenic factors, such as human angiopoietin-2, EPO and PDGF-AA, and decreased levels of cytokines, such as TNF-α, CXCL-8 and IL-6. The AA30-preconditioned DPD-MSC secretome showed augmented angiogenesis compared to vehicle controls. The DPD-MSC secretome ameliorated LPS-induced mRNA and protein expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and IL-10 in PBMCs.

Conclusion The AA30-preconditioned DPD-MSC secretome augmented angiogenesis and ameliorated the LPS-induced cytokine storm in human PBMCs in vitro. Our data demonstrate that AA30 preconditioning enhances the therapeutic potency of MSCs and their secretome.

Background: Plant-derived homeopathic medicines (HMs) are cheap and commercially available but are mechanistically less explored entities than conventional medicines.

Purpose: The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of selected plant-derived HMs derived from Berberis aquifolium (BA), Berberis vulgaris (BV), Mentha piperita (MP), Curcuma longa (CL), Cinchona officinalis (CO), Thuja occidentalis (TO) and Hydrastis canadensis (HC) on cervical cancer (CaCx) cells in vitro.

Methods: We screened the mother tincture (MT) and 30C potencies of the above-mentioned HMs for anti-proliferative and cytotoxic activity on human papillomavirus (HPV)-negative (C33a) and HPV-positive CaCx cells (SiHa and HeLa) by MTT assay. Total phenolic content (TPC) and the free-radical scavenging activity of each HM was also determined using standard assays. Phytochemicals reportedly available in these HMs were examined for their potential inhibitory action on HPV16 E6 by in silico molecular docking.

Results: All tested MTs induced a differential dose-dependent cytotoxic response that varied with cell line. For C33a cells, the order of response was TO > CL > BA > BV > HC > MP > CO, whereas for SiHa and HeLa cells the order was HC > MP > TO > CO > BA > BV > CL and CL > BA > CO, respectively. 30C potencies of all HMs showed an inconsistent response. Further, anti-CaCx responses displayed by MTs did not follow the order of an HM's phenolic content or free radical scavenging activity. Analysis revealed anti-oxidant content of BA, BV and HC had the lowest contribution to their anti-CaCx activity. Using in silico modeling of molecular docking between the HPV16 E6 protein crystallographic structures (6SJA and 4XR8) and main phytochemical components of BV, BA, HC, CL and TO, their potential to inhibit the HPV16 E6 protein carcinogenic interactions was identified.

Conclusion: The study has shown a comparative evaluation of the potential of several plant-derived MTs and HMs to affect CaCx cell line survival in vitro (through cytotoxicity and free radical scavenging) and their theoretical molecular targets in silico for the first time. Data demonstrated that MTs of BA and BV are likely to be the most potent HMs that strongly inhibited CaCx growth and have a strong anti-HPV phytochemical constitution.

Background: Clinical observational studies are an important methodological approach in human and veterinary research, examining and describing treatment experience with good external validity. There are currently few observational studies in the field of homeopathic veterinary medicine.

Aim: The aim of the study was to develop recommendations for designing, conducting and reporting observational studies in homeopathic veterinary medicine.

Materials and methods: A literature review was performed using various search strategies for identifying guidelines and checklist tools relevant for observational studies, veterinary research and homeopathy. Useful guidelines were selected. Prior recommendations for designing and conducting observational studies in human homeopathic medicine were supplemented with recommendations for homeopathic veterinary medicine that were evaluated by an expert panel.

Results: The veterinary extension of the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology - Veterinary (STROBE-Vet) statement was identified as a useful tool to improve the reporting quality of observational studies, and it has been supplemented here with additional recommendations that are applicable to homeopathy. STROBE-Vet is complemented in the literature by several reports, checklists and guidelines on veterinary medicine in general, such as the Checklist for One Health Epidemiological Reporting of Evidence (COHERE) and the Animal Health Surveillance Reporting Guidelines (AHSURED). Identified items that related to laboratory animal research were excluded as non-relevant to our study.

Conclusion: Clinical observational studies are an important methodological approach, having currently unrealized potential in the field of homeopathic veterinary medicine. With relatively minor adjustments, the practical guidelines and checklists available to researchers in designing, conducting and reporting observational studies in human homeopathic medicine have been adapted for homeopathic veterinary medicine, for which high quality can be assured by implementing recommendations such as those in STROBE-Vet. With the emergence of the One Health concept, the COHERE checklist can be viewed with growing significance.

The controversial claim that homeopathic medicines actively stimulate the innate capacity of body and mind for healing and repair demands continuing and energetic investigation. But regardless of the outcome of this scientific controversy, the reported changes associated with applying the homeopathic method are matters of clinical fact. There is thus a case to be made that the homeopathic approach, the way that it studies and construes the experience of illness in individual patients, enriches our understanding of health, illness and healing; and is itself an essential contribution that homeopathy can make to the advancement of medicine. Practitioners and researchers involved in homeopathy can, and should, be more energetic and forceful in making that case.

Background: Folliculinum is a homeopathic sarcode medication that is mainly used for regulating the estrous cycle and reproductive function. In snakes, it is common to observe low frequencies of reproduction. Ovulation is related to follicular size and morphology, and follicle homogeneity may indicate the absence of problems such as dystocia (egg retention) or follicular stasis.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to report on follicular stage changes in two ball pythons, Python regius (Shaw, 1802), which were treated using Folliculinum 6cH in a zoological park setting.

Methods: Two female pythons - one weighing 2.8 kg, the other weighing 2.5 kg, and neither with a history of reproduction - were examined by ultrasound to enable viewing of ovarian follicles in different phases and sizes. Folliculinum 6cH, two globules diluted in 200 mL of water, was administered, targeted to the eyes and nostril regions.

Results: Even given the slow metabolism of reptiles, ultrasound revealed an improvement in follicle homogeneity between 6 and 15 days after the start of homeopathy in both snakes; there was also improved weight gain in both animals. The MOdified NARanjo Criteria for Homeopathy (MONARCH) score was +8 in each of the cases, suggesting a causal relationship between the use of homeopathic medicine and clinical outcome.

Conclusion: Folliculinum 6cH may have promoted stabilization of follicle size and enabled folliculogenesis in two ball pythons.