Bellavite Paolo, Magnani Paolo, Marzotto Marta, Conforti Anita
Department of Morphological Biomedical Sciences, University of Verona, Italy.
Homeopathy. 2009 Oct;98(4):208-27. doi: 10.1016/j.homp.2009.09.005.
The first part of this paper reviews the effects of homeopathic remedies on several models of anxiety-like behaviours developed and described in rodents. The existing literature in this field comprises some fifteen exploratory studies, often published in non-indexed and non-peer-reviewed journals. Only a few results have been confirmed by multiple laboratories, and concern Ignatia, Gelsemium, Chamomilla (in homeopathic dilutions/potencies). Nevertheless, there are some interesting results pointing to the possible efficacy of other remedies, and confirming a statistically significant effect of high dilutions of neurotrophic molecules and antibodies. In the second part of this paper we report some recent results obtained in our laboratory, testing Aconitum, Nux vomica, Belladonna, Argentum nitricum, Tabacum (all 5CH potency) and Gelsemium (5, 7, 9 and 30CH potencies) on mice using ethological models of behaviour. The test was performed using coded drugs and controls in double blind (operations and calculations). After an initial screening that showed all the tested remedies (except for Belladonna) to have some effects on the behavioural parameters (light-dark test and open-field test), but with high experimental variability, we focused our study on Gelsemium, and carried out two complete series of experiments. The results showed that Gelsemium had several effects on the exploratory behaviour of mice, which in some models were highly statistically significant (p < 0.001), in all the dilutions/dynamizations used, but with complex differences according to the experimental conditions and test performed. Finally, some methodological issues of animal research in this field of homeopathy are discussed. The "Gelsemium model" - encompassing experimental studies in vitro and in vivo from different laboratories and with different methods, including significant effects of its major active principle gelsemine - may play a pivotal rule for investigations on other homeopathic remedies.
本文第一部分回顾了顺势疗法药物对啮齿动物中建立和描述的几种焦虑样行为模型的影响。该领域的现有文献包括约十五项探索性研究，这些研究通常发表在非索引和非同行评审的期刊上。只有少数结果得到了多个实验室的证实，涉及颠茄、钩吻、洋甘菊（顺势疗法稀释液/药力）。然而，有一些有趣的结果表明其他药物可能具有疗效，并证实了神经营养分子和抗体高稀释液具有统计学上的显著效果。在本文的第二部分，我们报告了我们实验室最近获得的一些结果，使用行为学模型对小鼠测试了乌头、马钱子、颠茄、硝酸银、烟草（均为5CH药力）和钩吻（5、7、9和30CH药力）。测试使用编码药物和对照进行双盲（操作和计算）。初步筛选显示，除颠茄外，所有测试药物对行为参数（明暗试验和旷场试验）都有一些影响，但实验变异性很高。我们将研究重点放在钩吻上，并进行了两个完整系列的实验。结果表明，钩吻对小鼠的探索行为有多种影响，在所有使用的稀释液/增效剂中，在某些模型中具有高度统计学意义（p < 0.001），但根据实验条件和进行的测试存在复杂差异。最后，讨论了顺势疗法这一领域动物研究的一些方法学问题。“钩吻模型”——包括来自不同实验室、采用不同方法的体外和体内实验研究，包括其主要活性成分钩吻碱的显著作用——可能在其他顺势疗法药物的研究中发挥关键作用。
