POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Moffett J, Arun P, Ives JA*, Lam D, Todorov T, Anick
D, Namboodiri MAA, Jonas W.
Enzyme stabilization by glass-derived silicates in homeopathically
prepared solutions.
Samueli Institute jives@siib.org
*Presenting author
PURPOSE: To rigorously analyze the type and
level of solutes in solutions that have been serially succussed and
diluted (SSD) in glass vials and document the effect these solutes have
on enzyme activity and stability in dilute solution.
METHODS: Enzyme assays with horseradish peroxidase
and acetylcholine esterase were used to analyze SSD solutions prepared
in glass and plastic containers. Aqueous SSD preparations starting with
various solutes, or water alone, were prepared under various conditions
and tested using colorimetric assays for their ability to affect enzyme
activity and stability in dilute solution.
RESULTS: Colorimetric assays demonstrated that
both enzyme stability in dilute solution and enzyme activity were enhanced
in SSD solutions that were prepared in glass containers, but not those
prepared in plastic containers, as compared with enzyme stability and
activity in plain water. The increased activity and stability were not
mimicked by salts or buffer solutions, but were by solutions of dissolved
silicates. Elemental analyses of SSD preparations made in glass vials
with water showed that three elements were present at micromolar levels
including boron, silicon, sodium and other elements at trace levels.
Comparison of the enzyme stabilizing effect with the effect of phosphate
buffer showed that both had stabilizing effects on enzymes in dilute
solutions and that the effects were additive.
CONCLUSIONS: The process of SSD has been proposed
to increase the potency of a homeopathic remedy. Such a notion is contrary
to existing pharmacological principles, which link the efficacy of a
bioactive agent to its activity as an agonist or antagonist at specific
receptors, or its ability to block or enhance specific enzyme, channel,
transduction or transport systems. While many theories have been proposed
by proponents of homeopathy to account for how the efficacy of a remedy
could increase with increased dilution and shaking, most are based on
conjecture and do not provide readily testable hypotheses. This study
demonstrates that silicates in homeopathically prepared solutions made
in glass act to stabilize enzymes in dilute solutions. This knowledge
may generate new testable hypotheses which in turn will further understanding
of homeopathic medicines and their mechanism of action.
Back