June 12th, 2009
Wacker Chemie, the Munich-based chemical company, announced that is has expanded its US based cyclodextrin facility in Eddyville, Iowa. According the the press release issued by Wacker, the new cyclodextrin facility increases the company’s capacity for alpha (α) and beta (β) cyclodextrins by 50 percent and doubles its capacity for gamma (γ) cyclodextrins.
Investment in the entire facility totaled over $21 million and will enable Wacker to produce up to 7,500 metric tons of cyclodextrins a year. The extra capacity is needed to meet the worldwide rise in cyclodextrin demand.
According to the press release, “the ability to reversibly enclose other substances makes cyclodextrins invaluable in many products such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles and food, not to mention in the household-care, personal-care and construction sectors.”
What about entrapping cholesterol in the human body and helping get rid of it? Interestingly, Wacker’s press release does not mention hydroxy propel beta cyclodextrin (HPBCD) and its potential health benefits.
This is the type of cyclodextrin we are giving via intravenous infusions to Addi and Cassi for their fatal cholesterol metabolism disease, Niemann Pick Type C (otherwise known as the “childhood Alzhiemer’s.”) Hydroxy propel beta cyclodextrin is somehow grabbing the stuck cholesterol and taking it out of the twins’ bodies through urine/stool. I wonder if Wacker even knows of this cyclodextrin project or the fact that HPBCD also kills the HIV AIDS virus.
Here are some great facts on cyclodextrins from Wacker:
- Cyclodextrins are cyclic sugar molecules. The number of glucose units defines the size of the sugar ring – alpha-cyclodextrin has six, beta-cyclodextrin seven, and gamma-cyclodextrin eight glucose units
- Cyclodextrins are able to enclose other substances in their interiors, much like a cone encloses a scoop of ice-cream. This enables cyclodextrins to bind ingredients, release active agents and stabilize sensitive substances such as vitamins and coenzyme
- Cyclodextrins have the ability to reversibly enclose other substances making cyclodextrins invaluable in many products such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, textiles and food, household and personal-care
The best part of the whole announcement was this statement — cyclodextrins of all types are non-toxic, non-allergenic and pose no known health risks based on today’s scientific findings!
Filed under Cyclodextrin Research, News | Comment (0)
June 9th, 2009
We all remember the Anthrax-laced letters that killed five people and severely rattled the country post-9/11. Just when you thought there might not be a way to stop this lethal infectious disease along comes beta cyclodextrin, a non toxic sugar compound.
A researcher by the name of Vladimir Karginov at a company called Innovative Biologics is working with beta cyclodextrin and Anthrax. Karginov has designed and synthesized a number of beta-cyclodextrin derivatives and evaluated their ability to inhibit the lethal toxin action of Anthrax. Several compounds displayed anti-toxin activity at low micromolar concentrations in cell-based assays and preliminary toxicity and efficacy studies in rodents produced very promising results. You can read about the research project here.
Anthrax is a highly lethal and infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, a bacteria that forms spores, or dormant cells, which can come to life under the right temperature, nutrients and other conditions to allow growth. Anthrax occurs in humans after exposure to an infected animal or infected animal tissue or when anthrax spores are used as a bioterrorist weapon. There are some effective vaccines against anthrax, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment shortly after exposure. But there is need for new, safe and effective treatments approved by the FDA to supplement traditional intravenous and oral antibiotic therapy such ciprofloxacin (cipro), doxycycline or vancomycin.
I have now reported on beta cyclodextrins ability to kill the HIV AIDS virus and now the deadly Anthrax bacterium. This same non toxic sugar compound is also being used to treat my 5 year old identical twins who have a fatal cholesterol metabolism disorder called Niemann Pick Type C, or the “childhood Alzheimer’s.”
What other lethal bacterias and viruses does this non toxic cyclodextrin compound kill? What does the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the United States Department of Health and Human Services know about cyclodextrin and are they studying it?
Filed under News | Comment (0)
May 2nd, 2009
Dr. David Begley, one of the world’s leading blood brain barrier experts at Kings College London is working on a research project we are currently funding on cyclodextrin and the blood brain barrier.
We want to answer the following question. Does hydroxy propel beta cyclodextrin (HPBCD) cross the blood brain barrier? Since less than 5% of drugs (made up of very small molecules) are able to cross the barrier and cyclodextrin is not considered a small molecule nor a drug, the possibility of cyclodextrin crossing into the brain would be remarkable.
Less than 5% of Drugs can cross the Blood Brain Barrier: Click to Enlarge
Addi and Cassi, my 5 year old identical twins, who have a cellular cholesterol metabolism disease called Niemann Pick Type C (often referred to as the Childhood Alzheimer’s) and are being treated with infusions of the sugar compound cyclodextrin.
When we started Addi and Cassi’s first few rounds of cyclodextrin infusions three weeks ago, I honestly did not expect to see much of a change because we started with a low dose. I certainly did not think my girls would start saying words again. To put this story in context, prior to starting the cyclodextrin infusions, Addi and Cassi had both lost their ability to talk. Addi was still trying to talk by making grunting sounds and came out with an occasional word here and there and Cassi was virtually mute.
However, since starting the cyclodextrin infusions, Addi has started repeating sentences again. This type of language is called echolalia and it’s something Addi did before she stopped talking. Cassi has become more vocal as well.
In the last 36 hours, Addi has repeated the following: Good morning, That’s great, That feels better, Rosie and Gilbert (characters from a cartoon), Let’s go walking, Let’s do it, Daddy’s here, Alright, Bye Tia (to our nurse), There’s Martha (in reference to our nanny), No, Me, We, More, Where’s Addison, That’s mine, I can do it, Let’s put them in the garbage can, Open, I Love You and Let’s have breakfast. Cassi has only managed a few words over the past few weeks but is making a lot more sounds with different pitches instead of a single low hum. (Note: Cassi has never talked as much as Addi and her speech was lost a few months before Addi’s).
I can’t express in words what it’s like to hear your child talk again. When my husband walked into the hospital room and Addi repeated ‘Daddy’s here” his eyes welled up with tears. Our nanny Martha has been with our girls since birth and it’s been six months since Addi has said her name. Yesterday, Addi clearly said “Martha” twice.
In addition to the spike in speech, the girls also seem happier, appear to have a slight improvement in head control (when rested) and their eye contact appears better. I have noticed a few more “stare off” spells with Addi (possibly absent seizures?) but I am not sure if these have increased or if I am just paying more attention and noticing them more.
The girls have experienced speech improvements previously when starting antibiotics (Amoxicillin and Septra). But the improvements did not last. There seemed to be a honeymoon period after starting the antibiotics and then the improvements stopped after 3-4 weeks. I have never received an answer from a doctor or researcher as to why antibiotics had a short term benefit for my girls, but they did.
To everyone’s delight, Addi and Cassi are experiencing neurological improvements on cyclodextrin. Since they are identical twins and are both improving, this leads me to the conclusion that cyclodextrin (HPBCD) is having some sort of effect on cellular cholesterol accumulation — either it’s crossing the BBB or somehow creating a siphon effect in the body and pulling cholesterol out of the brain? Dr. Begley will need to explain to the research world what cyclodextrin is actually doing and I can’t wait for his research work to finish.
Cyclodextrin is very exciting and promising, not only for Addi and Cassi and other kids impacted with Niemann Pick Type C but for the scientific community in general. I am starting to wonder what cyclodextrin could do for people suffering from atherosclerosis and if it would help eliminate the build up of plaques in the arteries? Also, several lines of evidence have implicated a role for cholesterol in Alzheimer’s disease.
I urge scientists working on diseases involving cholesterol pathways to spin up experiments with cyclodextrin (HPBCD) right away.
Filed under Blood Brain Barrier, Cholesterol, Cyclodextrin, Niemann Pick Type C | Comment (0)
April 1st, 2009
Millions of children in Africa like Rosine are needlessly contracting HIV/AIDS when an inexpensive and non toxic sugar compound called Cyclodextrin (or HPBCD) kills the HIV/AIDS virus and could literally stop the spread of this horrible deadly disease from mother to child (not to mention adults!). Now that the world is going to find out how important the Niemann Pick Type C GENE and proteins (located on Chromosome 18) are to the HIV/AIDS viruses ability to create itself and replicate in an infected person’s body, there may be some significant breakthroughs on the horizon.
Rachel and Rosine - Africa Children With HIV/AIDS
Rosine’s HIV/AIDS infection is being spread through her body with the helps of the Niemann Pick Type C proteins which help the HIV/AIDS virus makes itself inside a person’s cells. Cyclodextrin sugar is having miraculous effect on the HIV/AIDS virus (it’s killing the virus in animals!). Millions of children in Africa contract HIV/AIDS through the birth canal. Imagine the possibilities of pregnant mothers in Africa having an inexpensive and safe cream applied inside the birth canal prior to giving birth? The virus could be stopped - today! Cyclodextrin is readily available and simply needs to be tested in humans and deployed to see if it can work as effectively on people as it does in animals.
Addi & Cassi Hempel - Twins with Niemann Pick Type C
Cyclodextrin treatment is being tried as a potential therapy in Niemann Pick Type C DISEASE, which afflicts 5 year old identical twins, Addi and Cassi Hempel. Addi and Cassi were born with two “genetic defects” or inherited “mutations” from their parents on the Niemann Pick Type C GENE. These mutations on the GENE cause a fatal cholesterol metabolism DISEASE that is often referred to as “Childhood Alzheimer’s.” The FDA recently approved a “compassionate use” IND to allow the twins to receive cyclodextrin infusions directly into their bloodstreams. With cyclodextrin having such a profound effect on cellular cholesterol in mice studies and on viruses like HIV/AIDS attach to cholesterol when they enter the body like HIV/AIDS, imagine what else it might do if more research was done on this compound?
Thanks to Kresta King Cutcher Venning for sharing her beautiful pictures of children in Africa who are suffering from HIV/AIDS. This picture of Rosine was taken in 2006 and she is still battling her HIV/AIDS infection. Together we must bring the story of children and families in different parts of the world who are fighting what seems to be entirely different fatal diseases, but are really connected through cholesterol, to the world!
Filed under Cholesterol, Cyclodextrin, News | Comment (0)
