X-Message-Number: 25632 Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 19:03:01 -0800 (PST) From: Doug Skrecky <> Subject: C-MED 100 increases DNA repair, boosts immunity Phytomedicine. 2003 Jan;10(1):23-33 C-Med 100, a hot water extract of Uncaria tomentosa, prolongs lymphocyte survival in vivo. Water extracts of the bark of Uncaria tomentosa, a vine indigenous to South America, has been used for generations as an "immuno modulator". To understand the basis of this immuno modulatory effect we fed mice in their drinking water with C-Med 100, which is a commercially available water extract from Uncaria tomentosa. We found a dose-dependent increase in spleen cell numbers in the supplemented mice, but the proportions of B cells, T cells, NK cells, granulocytes, and memory lymphocytes were normal. However, there were no detectable changes of the lymphoid architecture of the spleen even after long-term treatment. Further, when C-Med 100 treatment was interrupted the cellularity returned to normal level within four weeks. The increased number of lymphocytes was most likely not due to increased production because C-Med 100 did not have any significant effect on precursor cells nor on the accumulation of recent thymic emigrants in the spleen. We conclude that accumulation is most likely due to prolonged cell survival, because adoptive transfer experiments demonstrated that C-Med 100 treatment significantly prolonged lymphocyte survival in peripheral lymphoid organs, without increasing their proliferation rate. Since the accumulation was reversible and without detectable pathological effects, these results suggest the use of C-Med 100 as a potential agent for clinically accelerating the recovery of patients from leukopenia. Phytomedicine. 2001 Jul;8(4):275-82 DNA repair enhancement of aqueous extracts of Uncaria tomentosa in a human volunteer study. The Uncaria tomentosa water extracts (C-Med-100) have been shown to enhance DNA repair, mitogenic response and leukocyte recovery after chemotherapy-induced DNA damage in vivo. In this study, the effect of C-Med-100 supplement was evaluated in a human volunteer study. Twelve apparently healthy adults working in the same environment were randomly assigned into 3 groups with age and gender matched. One group was daily supplemented with a 250 mg tablet containing an aqueous extract of Uncaria tomentosa of C-Med-100, and another group with a 350 mg tablet, for 8 consecutive weeks. DNA repair after induction of DNA damage by a standard dose of hydrogen peroxide was measured 3 times before supplement and 3 times after the supplement for the last 3 weeks of the 8 week-supplement period. There were no drug-related toxic responses to C-Med-100 supplement when judged in terms of clinical symptoms, serum clinical chemistry, whole blood analysis and leukocyte differential counts. There was a statistically significant decrease of DNA damage and a concomitant increase of DNA repair in the supplement groups (250 and 350 mg/day) when compared with non-supplemented controls (p < 0.05). There was also an increased tendency of PHA induced lymphocyte proliferation in the treatment groups. Taken together, this trial has confirmed the earlier results obtained in the rat model when estimating DNA repair enhancement by C-Med-100. J Ethnopharmacol. 2000 Feb;69(2):115-26. Enhanced DNA repair, immune function and reduced toxicity of C-MED-100, a novel aqueous extract from Uncaria tomentosa. Female W/Fu rats were gavaged daily with a water-soluble extract (C-MED-100) of Uncaria tomentosa supplied commercially by CampaMed at the doses of 0, 5, 10, 20, 40 and 80 mg/kg for 8 consecutive weeks. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulated lymphocyte proliferation was significantly increased in splenocytes of rats treated at the doses of 40 and 80 mg/kg. White blood cells (WBC) from the C-MED-100 treatment groups of 40 and 80 mg/kg for 8 weeks or 160 mg/kg for 4 weeks were significantly elevated compared with controls (P < 0.05). In a human volunteer study, C-MED-100 was given daily at 5 mg/kg for 6 consecutive weeks to four healthy adult males. No toxicity was observed and again, WBC were significantly elevated (P < 0.05) after supplement. Repair of DNA single strand breaks (SSB) and double strand breaks (DSB) 3 h after 12 Gy whole body irradiation of rats were also significantly improved in C-MED-100 treated animals (P < 0.05). The LD50 and MTD of a single oral dose of C-MED-100 in the rat were observed to be greater than 8 g/kg. Although the rats were treated daily with U. tomentosa extracts at the doses of 10-80 mg/kg for 8 weeks or 160 mg/kg for 4 weeks, no acute or chronic toxicity signs were observed symptomatically. In addition, no body weight, food consumption, organ weight and kidney, liver, spleen, and heart pathological changes were found to be associated with C-MED-100 treatment. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=25632