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Homeopathic drugs as inhibitors of tobacco mosaic virus
Abstract
Control of plant virus diseases by homoeopathic drugs has been tried by a few workers in the past (Verma et. al., 1969; Khurana, 1971 and Abidi et. al., 1977). In tobacco mosaic and papaya mosaic viruses, a few more drugs were tried in the present investigation.
... Homoeopathic drugs which can act magically and cure even incurable diseases have not been investigated for their antiviral effects against human and animal viral infections though antiviral activity of some of these drugs against plant viruses has been reported by Abidi et. al. (1977), Khurana (1978Khurana ( , 1971Khurana ( , 1980Khurana ( , 1981, Singh et. al. (1980) and Verma et. al. (1969). In addition to the antiviral effect of homoeopathic medicines against plant viruses, Verma and Verma (1963), Verma (1971) Verma and Awasthi (1978) reported antiviral activity of some biochemic drugs against plant viruses as well. Singh and Gupta in their annual report (1982-83-84) to the Central Council for Res ...
... ),Abidi et.al. (1997) and Singh et. al. (1980) also observed both these effects of homoeopathic drugs against plant viruses like Tobacco Mosaic Virus and Papaya Mosaic Virus. Homoeopathic drugs, besides being cheap and economical, are able to inhibit plant viruses in local and systemic infections, increase the resistance of plants if applied before and increase the period of incubat ...
The antiviral effect of homœopathic drugs against two animal viruses, Chicken Embryo Virus (CEV) of fowls and Simliki Forest Virus (SFV), causing encephalitis and death in mice were investigated. In all 10 drugs in 33 potencies were tested against CEV and 8 drugs in 26 potencies showed varying degree of virus inhibition. The drugs that caused 100% inhibition of CEV were Typhoidinum 200, Hydrophobinum 1000, Tuberculinum 1000, Nux vomica 200, and Malandrinum 1000. Of the drugs tested in 11 potencies against SFV, none were found effective in either preventing disease or death of mice infected with this virus.
... A considerable number of experimental studies have been conducted to test the efficacy of homoeopathic drugs against fungal and viral diseases of plants, animals [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25] and humans. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32] However, there seems to be few reports on in-vitro antimycotic effect of homoeopathic drugs against human pathogenic fungi in general and C. albicans in particular. ...
Background:
Candida albicans is an opportunistic pathogenic fungus accounting for up to 75% of all candidal infections in human beings. Generally, Candida grow and survive as commensals but slight modification of the host defense system can transform Candida albicans into a pathogen.
Materials and Methods:
Samples collected from the oral cavity and tongue of the patients suspected of suffering from oral candidiasis were incubated for growth of Candida. Fermentation and assimilation test confirmed the species as Candida albicans. Disc method was used to assess the in-vitro anti‑candidal effect of few homoeopathic drugs in 30 and 200 potencies against human pathogenic Candida albicans under in-vitro conditions and compared with standard antifungal drug ketoconazole (control), rectified spirit (control/vehicle) and distilled water (vehicle) by “inhibition zone technique”
Results: Homeopathic drugs namely Acid benzoicum, Apis mellifica, Kali iodatum, Mezereum, Petroleum, Sulphur, Tellurium, Sulphur iodatum, Graphites, Sepia, Silicea and Thuja occidentalis in 30 and 200 potencies were tested against Candida albicans. Mezereum in 200 and 30 potency showed maximum inhibition of growth of Candida albicans followed by Kali iodatum 200 while Kali iodatum 30 and Petroleum 30 had minimum inhibition.
Conclusion:
The results of these experiments support the concept of “evidence based medicine” depicting that homoeopathic medicines not only work in in-vivo but are equally effective in in-vitro conditions having definite inhibitory activity against Candida albicans.
Keywords:
Antifungal, Candida albicans, homoeopathic drugs, in‑vitro inhibitory activity
The extensive use of synthetic chemical fertilizers in agriculture is causing environmental problem. In this situation it is desirable to find out suitable agents, which would increase plant growth without compromising with the quality of food and of soil. This paper represents the history and trends of homeopathic drugs utilized in the control of plant pathogens in plant pathology. This method started with the pioneering work of kolisko in 1923 on wheat germination and Junker in 1928 on growth of microorganisms. Literature search on the Homeopathic drugs in the control of plant pathogens, which have shown the anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-bacterial properties have been reviewed in this present paper. From the literature during the present study the different homeopathic drugs were found were used in agriculture. The contents of the article cover all the scientific reports published in Agricultural sectorfrom 1966 to till dates. A total 120 papers have been reported from homeopathic treatments used in Agriculture. Amongst these Arsenicum album, Natrum muriaticum, Cina, Thujawere found as the most used compounds. The science of homeopathy has great potentials and could give a new direction that requires attention of the researchers in alternative agriculture. This review discusses the experimental evidence relating to the use of homeopathic drugs in plant pathology, with view to assess the potential of homeopathy in agriculture.
Homoeopathy is a therapeutic system in which diseases are treated with substances, usually in extreme dilutions, which, when given to healthy individuals, produce the same symptoms as the disease being treated. Homoeopathy is an holistic method of treatment in that the whole organism is treated in an attempt to raise its level of resistance and stimulate its ability to throw off disease. In this respect it is well suited to the holistic concepts of biological agriculture. Because of the extreme dilution of the remedies they are relatively cheap, have little or no ecological side-effects and, on the whole, are harmless. This review introduces the basic principles of homoeopathy, discusses the experimental evidence for the efficacy of homoeopathic treatment of disease and considers its potential role in agriculture. The conclusion is that despite a great deal of experimental and clinical work there is only a little evidence to suggest that homoeopathy is effective. This is because of bad design, execution, reporting or failure to repeat experimental work and not necessarily because of the inefficacy of the system which has yet to be properly tested on a large enough scale. It is suggested that there is sufficient evidence to warrant the execution of well-designed, carefully-controlled experiments, particularly in naturally diseased organisms, to investigate the efficacy of homoeopathy further. Some of the experimental work already done suggests that homoeopathy may be of value in the treatment and prevention of diseases in crops as well as domestic animals.
The literature on the applications of homeopathy for controlling plant diseases in both plant pathological models and field trials was first reviewed by Scofield in 1984. No other review on homeopathy in plant pathology has been published since, though much new research has subsequently been carried out using more advanced methods.
To conduct an up-to-date review of the existing literature on basic research in homeopathy using phytopathological models and experiments in the field.
A literature search was carried out on publications from 1969 to 2009, for papers that reported experiments on homeopathy using phytopathological models (in vitro and in planta) and field trials. The selected papers were summarized and analysed on the basis of a Manuscript Information Score (MIS) to identify those that provided sufficient information for proper interpretation (MIS>or=5). These were then evaluated using a Study Methods Evaluation Procedure (SMEP).
A total of 44 publications on phytopathological models were identified: 19 papers with statistics, 6 studies with MIS>or=5. Publications on field were 9, 6 with MIS>or=5. In general, significant and reproducible effects with decimal and centesimal potencies were found, including dilution levels beyond the Avogadro's number.
The prospects for homeopathic treatments in agriculture are promising, but much more experimentation is needed, especially at a field level, and on potentisation techniques, effective potency levels and conditions for reproducibility. Phytopathological models may also develop into useful tools to answer pharmaceutical questions.
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