Today I spent a few hours preparing ethanol/water and DMSO/water extracts of Curcuma, Ginseng and Artemisia Annua. The outcome (including the formulation) is shown in the picture below.
The idea for using not only ethanol or DMSO but also water is to extract the water soluble components too. The intention is to use these extracts as topical or oral application. Actually, the best Curcumin IV formulation I have seen so far is such an extract, off course sterilized. It can have stronger anti cancer effects compared to pure Curcumin and that is because this extraction method will not only extract Curcumin but also some other curcuminoids such as demethoxycurcumin (DMC) and bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC).
Indeed, all three major Curcuma extracts are known to posses important anticancer potential. Here are a few studies indicating that:
- Curcumin, demethoxycurcumin and bisdemethoxycurcumin differentially inhibit cancer cell invasion through the down-regulation of MMPs and uPA http://www.jnutbio.com/article/S0955-2863(08)00004-1/abstract
- Bisdemethoxycurcumin (BDMC) is a Topoisomerases-IIα (TOP2A) inhibitor http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23928695. This mechanism is similar as chemotheraphy such as Etoposide.
- Oxidative Transformation of Demethoxy- and Bisdemethoxycurcumin: Products, Mechanism of Formation, and Poisoning of Human Topoisomerase IIα. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25806475
- Therapeutic potential of turmeric in Alzheimer’s disease: curcumin or curcuminoids? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23873854
- Evaluation of in vitro anti-proliferative and immunomodulatory activities of compounds isolated from Curcuma longa. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20438793
- Immunostimulatory activities of polysaccharide extract isolated from Curcuma longa. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20609432
- It was observed that BDMC inhibited the TGF-β1 induced EMT in 95D cells. Furthermore, it also inhibited the Wnt signaling pathway by upregulating WIF-1 protein expression. In addition, WIF-1 manipulation studies further revealed that WIF-1 is a central molecule mediating BDMC response towards TGF-β1 induced EMT by regulating cell invasion and migration. http://www.cmj.org/article.asp?issn=0366-6999;year=2015;volume=128;issue=10;spage=1376;epage=1383;aulast=Xu
Lately, I started to see the power of the whole plant and not only one specific extract from plants. As we have seen in the post on Artemisia Annua, one gram of the whole plant may be more effective then one gram of pure Artemisinin extract from the whole plant. I believe this is the case for Curcumin too, at least the case of the IV formulation. So, when searching for IV suppliers we may want to check if the IV contains the hole plant or an extract only.
Fore more discussion on Curcumin please go to the following post https://www.cancertreatmentsresearch.com/?p=1281
You may want to give some attention to Scutellaria barbata (Ban zhi lian) and Lithospermum erythrorhizon (Zi cao).
Bezielle selectively targets mitochondria of cancer cells to inhibit glycolysis and OXPHOS.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22319564
Shikonin circumvents cancer drug resistance by induction of a necroptotic death.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17513612
HI Ovidiu. Thanks for that. Indeed I like Scutellaria barbata as it has many anti cancer components inside, one of which is constantly in my attention, i.e. Baicalein. We did use both the whole plant and the extract Baicalein as a supplement. However, I did not know Bezielle. I will check it but this proves the power of the whole plants as there is so much more inside. Ideally, as a supplement I would always consider the administration of the whole plant and next to that the extract of interest.
Shikonin is another component that I follow for long time and his anti cancer action stands out indeed.
Coming back to Scutellaria barbata, your comment made me remember about Scutellaria barbata and will order some whole plant to prepare a similar extract as above.
My personal experience was, years ago, when less information was available, that Ban zhi lian tasted awful, and did not seem to have side effects, while Zi cao tasted OK, but made me feel uncomfortable. So Ban zhi lian was used for a little while, but didn’t seem to make a difference, and Zi cao not at all (didn’t know what would have been an effective dose).
Where did you get Ban zhi lian, what was the delivery route and the dose Ovidu?
http://www.amazon.com/Ban-Zhi-Lian-Barbed-Skullcap/dp/B0040HNPJW/ref=sr_1_1_s_it?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1464285422&sr=1-1&keywords=ban+zhi+lian
I don’t remember exactly the dose, probably 3 – 4 teaspoons per day. I also made an ethanolic extract, that tasted awful too. 🙂
D, Thank you for trying to think about my azole question.
It is frustrating when you try and find something like that and just can’t place it!
I also recently saw a new 3-BP formulation (I think from Florida Atlantic Univeristy) that I can’t find either!
Shikonin apparently is a potent inhibitor of PKM2. Can’t wait to post to your glycolytic list!
Having all them together (just as with the OXPHOS inhibitors) gives you the wide view.
“Natural naphthoquinone derivatives, such as shikonin have been shown to be potent inhibitors of PKM2 , reducing glucose consumption and lactic acid production in cells expressing the PKM2 subtype, thereby inhibiting glycolysis rates. This is the most effective and specific inhibitor reported so far.”
Hi J, I will start up that glco list as soon as possible after I am back home in a few weeks. At this point I am still travelling and have very limited access to my computer. I did wrote a little about Shikonin and PKM2 some years ago and found them very relevant indeed.
Thanks D!
This could be another home run for us. What I have realized is that we have used phrases like “glycolytic inhibitors” and “OXPHOS inhibitors” quite loosely. If we could organize a database that showed exactly what part of the pathway was inhibited, at what dosage, specific or non-specific inhibition, etc. , then there could be an enhanced effectiveness of combination strategies. For example, with OXPHOS there are 4 subunits plus ATP synthase, HKII complexing with VDAC, along with transporters, proton gradient, etc. etc. Glycolysis has 10 enzymes with Gluts, and LDH, handoff to Pentose etc. Having a detailed schematic for example (Open Source?)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycolysis#Interactive_pathway_map
would be a highly effective method of showing all the information in an accessible way. Posters might be given the chance to add inhibitors to a common file that was posted and reposted to the thread. This could be very useful! I hope others see the value in it.
Hi Daniel
What approach was used for extraction? Soxhlet, shaker + evaporation, …?
Kind Regards
Asaf
Hi Asaj,
Thank you for your question as this brought me to this post that brings back memories related to the times when I was doing this …
The extraction was made based on either Ethanol (96%) + Water or DMSO (99%) +Water. I tried to follow a formula used by a computing pharmacy in Germany extracting Curcumin and turning it into intravenous version. The formula I used is written on the labels in the photo.
Kind regards,
Daniel
Hi Daniel
Thank you for answer.
I’d seen formulas. Question was about how extraction from plant was carried. Using soxhlet, or shaker, or other methods…
afaiu, lab prepared these plant extract, so you did just mix with ingredients up to the proportions stated on bottle.
Kind Regards
Asaf
p.s. Yes, we are made of memories. I read your story and understand what does this topic mean to you.