(Apr. 4, 2011) — An environment of pure oxygen at three-and-a-half times normal air pressure adds significantly to the effectiveness of a natural compound already shown to kill cancerous cells, researchers at the University of Washington and Washington State University recently reported in the journal Anticancer Research.
Un environnement de pure oxygène à 3 fois et demi la pression normale ajoute de façon significative à une molécule naturelle dont on a déja démontré qu'elle tuait des cellules cancéreuses.The compound artemisinin -- isolated from Artemisia annua L, commonly known as wormwood -- is a natural remedy widely used to treat malaria. In the mid-1990s UW researchers were the first to explore its ability to treat cancer.
La molécule d'artémisinine, isolé de l'absinthe, est un remède naturelle utilisé pour traiter le malaria. Dans le millieu des années 1990, certains chercheurs de l'état de Washington furent les premiers à explorer sa capacité à traiter le cancers.In the new study, using artemisinin or high-pressure oxygen alone on a culture of human leukemia cells reduced the cancer cells' growth by 15 percent. Using them in combination reduced the cells' growth by 38 percent, a 50 percent increase in artemisinin's effectiveness.
Dans une nouvelle étude, utiliser l'artesimine ou l ahaute pression d'oxygène seul sur des cultures de cellules leucémiques réduit la croissance des cellules de 15%. utiliser ensemble (artesimine + pression d'oxygène) la croissance des cellules est réduite de 38% (50% de plus d'efficacité pour l'Artesimine."If you combine high-pressure oxygen with artemisinin you can get a much better curing effect," said author Henry Lai, a UW research professor of bioengineering. "We only measured up to 48 hours. Over longer time periods we expect the synergistic effects to be even more dramatic."
Et nous avons pris des mesures pour 48 heures seulement. sur une plus longue période, nous nous attendons à un effet plus grand encore. The history of artemisinin brings to mind an Indiana Jones story. In the early 1970s, Lai says, Chinese leader Mao Zedong issued an order to develop an anti-malarial treatment. At the same time, a farmer in central China discovered a 2,000-year-old tomb that contained three coffins. One coffin contained a silk scroll describing various prescriptions, including artemisinin to treat malaria. The Chinese followed the directions and thus rediscovered an ancient remedy.
La décuverte de L'artemisinine rappelle les histoires d'Indiana Jones. Dans le début des années 1970, le leader chinois MAo Zedong voulait développer un traitement contre la malria. En même temps, un fermier en Chine centrale a découvert une sépulture veille de 2000 ans qui contenait 3 tombes. une des tombes contenait un rouleau de soie decrivant divers prescriptions incluant celle de l'Artemisine contre la malaria. Les chinois ont redécouvert de cette façon un ancien remède.Today, artemisinin is widely used in Asia and Africa for malaria treatment.
Aujourd'hui, L'artemisinine est largement utilisé en Asie et en AFrique pour traiter la malaria.In the decades since, scientists have discovered artemisinin reacts with iron within a cell to form a free radical, a highly reactive charged particle that destroys the cell. Because the malaria parasite is high in iron, artemisinin targets malaria-infected cells.
Les scientifiques ont découvert depuis que l'artemisinine réagissait avec le fer dans la cellule pour former des radicaux libres, une particule hautement réactive et chagé (électriquement ) qui détruit les cellules. Parce que le parasite de la malaria contient beaucoup de fer, l'artemisinine cible les cellules avec la malaria.Since rapidly dividing cancer cells also need iron to form new DNA, Lai theorized they would also make targets for artemisinin. Subsequent research showed this to be the case.
Parce que les cellules cancéreuses qui se divisent rapidement ont aussi besoin de fer pour former de l'ADN, Lai pense que ces cellules cancéreuses feraient aussi une bonne cible pour l'Artemisinine. Des recherches subséquentes l'ont convaincu que c'était le cas.Lai and colleagues at the UW developed a variant several thousand times more potent than natural artemisinin, which was licensed in 2004 to a Chinese company.
Lai et ses collègues à Washington ont developpé une variante plusieurs milliers de fois plus puissante que l'Artemisinine naturelle, qui a reçu une license en 2004."Artemisinin is a promising low-cost cancer treatment because it's specific, it's cheap and you don't have to inject it," Lai said. "It's 100 times more specific than traditional chemotherapy," he added. "In breast cancer, it's even better."
L
,artemisinine est un traitement prometteur et à bas prix parce que elle est hautement spécifique et que nous n'Avons pas à l'injecter. C'est 1000 fois plus spécifique que l'actuelle chimiothérapie, selon lui, et dans le cas du cancer du c'est éventuellement meilleur. Lai says he's long hypothesized that high oxygen levels would enhance artemisinin's effects, because oxygen promotes the formation of free radicals. In 2010, he put the theory to the test in a hyperbaric chamber that co-author Raymond Quock, WSU professor and chair of pharmaceutical sciences, has been using to study highly pressurized oxygen's ability to relieve pain.
Hyperbaric chambers, filled with oxygen at high pressure, help scuba divers who surface too quickly gradually readjust to normal oxygen levels. A photo of pop singer Jackson in the mid-80s sleeping in a portable hyperbaric chamber sparked rumors that he was trying to heal scars from plastic surgery, retain his youthful appearance or extend his lifespan. The photo turned out to be a publicity stunt, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved hyperbaric oxygen therapy for several ailments, including decompression sickness, carbon-monoxide poisoning, Lyme disease and slow-to-heal wounds.
In clinical practice, the artemisinin-hyperbaric study could lead to people or animals spending time in a hyperbaric chamber to enhance the artemisinin's effectiveness.