Deuterium Depletion: A New Concept in Anticancer Drug Development
The 1st International Symposium on Deuterium Depletion will be held on 13-14 May 2010 in Budapest, Hungary to give the researchers and medical practitioners a unique opportunity to get acquainted with deuterium depletion a novel tool of submolecular medicine. HYD LLC. develops pharmaceutical and consumer products based on the recognition that the naturally occuring deuterium has a central role in the regulation of molecular mechanisms in living organisms. Deuterium depletion is a completely original approach to inhibit the growth of cancer cells in the body and to influence other physiological processes like glucose metabolism.
Recently, pharmacological industry started to develop and commercialize deuterium-containing medicines. Since deuterium, the stable and non-radiating isotope of hydrogen is heavier than hydrogen, it therefore forms stronger chemical bonds. Strategic replacement of hydrogen atoms in therapeutics with deuterium could positively influence efficacy and side effect profiles of drugs.
In the early nineties, Hungarian molecular biologist, Gabor Somlyai, PhD recognized, that the shortage of deuterium can cause significant changes in cell processes. The most important outcome of this research carried out with deuterium-depleted water (DDW) was that tumour cells proved to be extremely sensitive to the withdrawal of D. There is conclusive evidence that the application of DDW causes a delay in cell growth of tumor cells in tissue culture. In animal experiments, DDW slowed down, halted or reversed the growth of tumors originating from malignant (neoplastic) cell lines of human origin, in immunosuppressed mice and spontenous tumors of cats and dogs. The first anticancer drug based on deuterium depletion was registered for the treatment of house-hold pets in1999, it verified an efficacy of 70-80% in veterinary practice. Recent results show that the depletion of deuterium induces changes in the expression of genes, which play an already recognized role in the pathology of most cancer types. In 2010, HYD LLC. plans to start a phase II clinical trial to investigate the antitumor effect of DDW in symptomatic, previously untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
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