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.

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