Mistletoe preparations

Anthroposophists also take a unique approach to medicine. The body, they say, has three poles — cool, warm, and balancing. Illness arises from a disharmony of these poles, and we can restore the harmony with a variety of animal, mineral, and plant substances. We must take the time of day and planet constellations into consideration as we prepare these remedies, and we must never work on them between noon and three o clock in the afternoon because this is the least alive time of day. Anthroposophists frown upon vaccinations, but they approve of color therapy and a mistletoe preparation invented by Steiner. Sauerkraut they regard as a special food we require it for the health of our digestive tracts. 

Holtskog, R., Sandvig, K. and Olsnes, S. (1988) Characterization of a toxic lectin in Iscador, a mistletoe preparation with alleged cancerostatic properties. Oncology, 45, 172-179. 

The mistletoe lectins inhibited the growth of multidrug-resistant human colon cancer line HT 29 (mdr) in vitro Numerous studies have reported immunostimulatoiy and proapoptotic effects for mistletoe extracts, preparations, and components. The mistletoe extracts and preparations also significantly inhibited carcinogenesis and metastatis. Animal studies have shown that mistletoe preparations suppressed side effects when used as an adjunct to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. ... 

An increase in eosinophil (a type of white blood cell) counts has been reported after administration of lectin-rich European mistletoe preparations (Huber et al. 2005 Stein and Berg 2000). 

The immunomodulatory effects of VAA-1 showed a bell-shaped dose-response curve in animal models [56]. Therefore, to obtain clinical benefit, it appears to be desirable to apply standardized and active preparations in an immunologically most effective application schedule. Already three of the commercially available and clinically applied mistletoe preparations have been standardized on the contents of their immunomodulatory VAA 1. 

Gabius HJ, Gabius S (1997) Therapeutic relevance of immunomodulation by mistletoe preparations Fact or fiction Int J Oncol 11 (Suppl.) 886... 

Isolated polypeptides, viscotoxins II, III, and IVb, have been associated with cardio-toxicity but have also been found to exhibit cytotoxic activity against human tumor cells of the KB and HeLa lines in tissue culture. A peptide with a molecular weight of 5000 was found to be cytotoxic to Dalton s lymphoma ascites tumor cells in vitro in mice, without affecting normal lymphocjfies, indicating a cell-dependent specificity also cyctotoxic to Ehrlich ascites cells, both prophylacticaUy and after tumor development. Commercial mistletoe products have been used to treat various cancers in Europe with clinical success. A group of 50 cases of carcinomatous pleural effusions were treated with a topical preparation for an average of 3.3 application over 18 days exudation disappeared in 92% of the patients. In postoperative ovarian cancer patients, a mistletoe preparation statistically increased survival. ... 

The Celts, and others, also used mistletoe for medical purposes. The Roman historian Pliny the Younger wrote that mistletoe was deemed a cure for epilepsy carried about by women it assisted them to conceive, and it healed ulcers most effectually, if only the sufferer chewed a piece of the plant and laid another piece on the sore. Modern herbalists continue to recommend mistletoe for the treatment of epilepsy, hypertension, and hormone imbalances. However, it should be appreciated that homemade brews prepared from the berries and leaves of the North American species (Phoradendron flavescens) are poisonous and should be avoided. 

The preparation Helixor contains aqueous extracts of fresh mistletoe from 3 subspecies, namely abietus, malus and pinus, which have been sterilised by low temperature filtration. This product is administered subcutaneously. In low doses Helixor has an... 

Numerous human clinical studies have been reported on mistletoe or its preparations as a treatment for cancer. In most of the studies, the survival and tumor recurrence were the end points. Mar r of these studies attributed beneficial effects to mistletoe products in terms of improvements in survival, improvements in quality of life, and/or stimulation of the immune system. " However, most of the studies have serious flaws in study design, and they have often yielded inconsistent outcomes. The variation in the type of mistletoe products used from one study to the other makes the analogy difficult. Although mistletoe is one of the most widely studied herbal medicines for cancer, well-designed clinical trials are still needed to decipher its absolute potential in cancer treatment. 

In the light of all these findings, it is plausible to assume that some cancer drugs of plant origin such as mistletoe (Viscum album) or the South American lapacho (Tabebuia avellanedae), which are applied in very low concentrations with regard to the active constituents present in the preparations of traditional medicine, exert their antitumor activities by a total or partial immune or apoptosis inducing mechanism of action. 

In the published trials mistletoe extracts of different origin (host tree) and mode of preparations have been used. Assuming that the lectin VAA-1 is an active component, its content in the extracts varies with the host tree, the season of mistletoe harvest, the extraction procedure, the fermentation, etc. This makes the trials no longer comparable. The demand for future clinical research and trials is the use of biologically active and reproducibly standardized preparations. 

To circumvent the drawbacks of different preparations from plant material, recombinant mistletoe lectin might be the substance of choice. It can be prepared in large quantities of equal quality.The research of the recombinant form of VAA-1 may also give new clinical perspectives. Recent in vitro investigations with recombinant lectin revealed NK stimulatory effects in synergism with IL-2 and IL-12. Similar to plant lectin in animal models, recombinant VAA-1 was also able to stimulate the NK cell-mediated cytotoxic activity of splenocytes Nat 1mm in press Fig. 4). 

---