Telomere and Telomerase: Biological Markers of Organic Vital Force State and Homeopathic Treatment Effectiveness.

BACKGROUND: Philosophical-scientific correlations described in previous studies suggest that the genome can be the biological representation of the vital force, whilst the disease-promoting epigenetic alterations would be the biological representation of the chronic miasmas. In this study, we expand the functional correlation between vital force and chromosomes, describing the mechanism of action of the telomere-telomerase complex in the context of physiological balance. AIMS: The aim of the work is to study the role of the telomere-telomerase complex in cell vitality, biological aging, and the health-disease process, with the goal of proposing the use of telomere length as a biomarker of the vital force state and the effectiveness of homeopathic treatment. RESULTS: Similar to the vital force, telomere length and telomerase enzyme activity play an important role in maintaining cellular vitality, biological longevity, and physiological homeostasis. Telomere shortening functions as a biomarker of vital imbalance and is associated with numerous diseases and health disorders. On the other hand, health-promotion practices neutralize the pathological shortening of the telomeres, acting therapeutically in diseases or age-dependent health disorders. CONCLUSIONS: As a hypothetical biomarker of the vital force state, an intra-individual analysis of the mean leukocyte telomere length before, during, and after homeopathic treatment can be used as a biomarker of therapeutic effectiveness.

The biological sciences section program at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Gerontological Society of America.

In this era of genomics and other exciting technical advances, research on the biology of aging is undergoing a renaissance. This report summarizes 10 cutting-edge areas of research covered in symposia that spanned such topics as stem cells, novel vaccine strategies, nutritional sensing, new concepts of Parkinson's disease, high throughput screening for aging interventions, manipulating telomerase in cancer and immunodeficiency, synergy between aging and HIV disease, and epigenetic influences on aging. Novel animal models, including those showing no evidence of aging, as well as ethical and political implications of embryonic stem cells and alternative medicine are also discussed.

A homeopathic nosode, Hepatitis C 30 demonstrates anticancer effect against liver cancer cells in vitro by modulating telomerase and topoisomerase II activities as also by promoting apoptosis via intrinsic mitochondrial pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Homeopathic nosodes have seldom been scientifically validated for their anticancer effects. This study was conducted to examine if a recently developed hepatitis C nosode has demonstrable anticancer potential in cancer cells in vitro. METHODS: Anticancer effects of Hepatitis C 30C (Hep C 30), if any, were initially tested on three cancer cell lines, HepG2 (liver cancer), MCF-7 (breast cancer) and A549 (lung cancer) and one normal liver cell line WRL-68 cells and subsequently a more thorough study using further scientific protocols was undertaken on HepG2 cells (against WRL-68 cells as the normal control) as HepG2 cells showed better anticancer response than the other two. Three doses, one at 50% lethal dose (LD50) and the other two below LD50, were used on HepG2 cells subsequently. Protocols like apoptosis induction and its possible signaling mechanism were deployed using immunoblots of relevant signal proteins and confocal microscopy, with particular reference to telomerase and topoisomerase II (Top II) activities, two strong cancer biomarkers for their direct relationship with divisional activities of cells and DNAs. RESULTS: Hep C 30 induced apoptosis, caused distorted cell morphology typical of apoptotic cells, increased reactive oxygen species generation and produced increased DNA nicks. Further it enhanced pro-apototic signal proteins like Bax, cytochrome c and inhibited anti-apoptotic signal proteins, Bcl-2, cytochrome c and caspase-3, changed mitochondrial membrane potential and caused externalization of phosphatidylserine. The drug also decreased expression of two cancer biomarkers, Top II and telomerase, consistent with its anticancer effect. CONCLUSION: Hep C 30 has demonstrable anticancer effects against liver cancer cells in vitro.

Telómeros y telomerasa: marcadores biológico-genómicos de la vitalidad-actividad celular, de la longevidad-envejecimiento y del proceso salud-enfermedad / Telomeres and telomerase: biological-genomic markers of cell vitality-activity, longevity-aging and the health-disease process

El proceso de envejecimiento se produce por la disminución de las funciones fisiológicas y de la capacidad de adaptación del organismo, siendo influenciado por la genética y el estilo de vida. Actualmente, con los avances de la genética, el envejecimiento biológico se puede calcular por la longitud de los telómeros ('telomere lenght'). Los telómeros son regiones en los extremos de los cromosomas que juegan un papel en el mantenimiento y la integridad del ADN. Con el envejecimiento biológico, se produce el acortamiento de los telómeros, causando la senescencia celular. Numerosos estudios evidencian que telómeros más cortos están asociados a enfermedades crónicas, a vicios y a intoxicaciones. Por otro lado, hábitos de vida saludables propician el aumento de la longitud de los telómeros y el equilibrio de las diversas funciones celulares, previniendo enfermedades. Por lo tanto, los telómeros funcionan como un biomarcador de la vitalidad del organismo.(AU)