Scientific Research on Maharishi Ayurveda

cancer > cancer study 4

Cancer Study #4

Title
Ayurvedic (Science of Life) Agents [MAK-4 and MAK-5] Induce Differentiation in Murine Neuroblastoma Cells in Culture

Publication
Neuropharmacology, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 599-607, 1992.

Authors
K.N. Prasad,* Judith Edwards-Prasad,* Susan Kentroti,** C. Brodie,** and Antonia Vernadakis.**

Conducted at
**Center for Vitamins and Cancer Research, Department of Radiology, and
**Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO 80262

Summary
This study shows that an ethanol extract of MAK-5 (also known as Maharishi Amrit Kalash Ambrosia) induced morphological differentiation (neurite formation) and biochemical differentiation (increased activity of tyrosine hydroxylase by about 15-fold) in 75% of murine neuroblastoma cells in culture (p<0.05), indicative of reversal of the malignant process. An aqueous extract of MAK-5 increased only the activity of tyrosine hydroxylase and to a lesser extent than the ethanol extract. A treatment time of 3 days was needed for the expression of maximum differentiation. Ethanol and aqueous extracts of MAK-5 also increased the intracellular level of adenosine 3’,5’-cyclic monophosphate (cAMP) by about 4-fold in 3 days. Ethanol extracts of MAK-5 also induced neurite formation in neuroblastoma cells grown in serum-free medium, but the concentration requirement was about a fifth of that needed in serum. A treatment time of 24 hours was sufficient to induce optimal differentiation in neuroblastoma cells grown in serum-free medium. The differentiating agents in the ethanol extract of MAK-5 were resistant to heat and light and could not be removed by treatment with activated charcoal. Neither the ethanol nor the aqueous extracts of MAK-4 (also known as Maharishi Amrit Kalash Nectar) induced differentiation in neuroblastoma cells