How does it work?
Avemar has been shown to have many mechanisms of action, not surprising since as a natural compound, it is composed of a naturally occurring blend of many
medicinally active constituents.
Selectively inhibiting glucose metabolism in cancer cells.
Assisting mechanisms of apoptosis, programmed cell death
Unmasking the Enemy
Helping to enhance the coordinated functioning of the immune system
Selectively inhibiting glucose metabolism in cancer cells.
The marker compound for which it is standardized in manufacturing, 2,6-dimethoxy-p-benzoquinone (2,6-DMBQ) and related methoxy-substituted benziquinones, are suggested to provide Avemar’s most unique benefit of inhibiting non-oxidative metabolism of glucose (anaerobic glycolysis) by cancer cells. Dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his part in the discovery of vitamin C and for determining the processes of cell metabolismeorized 2,6-DMBQ and related methoxy-substituted benziquinones provided in supplemental quantities would help to chaperone the cellular metabolism, and help prevent states of hyper metabolism characteristic of cancer cells.
Cancer cells utilize glucose at a 10 to 50 times higher rate than normal cells through the pathway of non-oxidative metabolism, a phenomenon known as the “Wartburg effect.” Although this method of metabolism is very inefficient in the production of ATP compared with the healthy, oxidative metabolism (aerobic glycolysis) it is very efficient at the utilization of carbon atoms from glucose for the production of RNA and DNA – fueling the rapacious growth and spread of tumors. Recently, research by Boros and colleagues at UCLA with Avemar have shown it selectively inhibited glucose metabolism in healthy cells (strictly speaking Boros shows that it disrupts glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) and transketolase enzyme function in the glycose/pentose cycle), dramatically reducing glucose utilization in a broad range of cancer cell types, the more malignant the cell line, the greater its rate of glucose utilization, the more dramatic Avemar’s inhibitory effect. These studies also showed that a 50 times higher concentration of Avemar was needed to inhibit glucose utilization in normal healthy cells, implying a very broad “therapeutic index” which describes the spread between the beneficial dose of a medicinal compound and its harmful dose (the broader the therapeutic index for a treatment, the safer it is).
The research by Boros and colleagues showed that Avemar’s inhibition of non-oxidative glucose metabolism corresponded with a reduction in the synthesis of RNA and DNA associated with the proliferation of cancer cells and the growth and spread of tumors, and an increase in RNA and DNA synthesis associated with healthy functions of cellular differentiation and repair. By starving cancer cells of the glucose metabolism they need, Avemar helped cancer cells behave less like cancer cells and more like normal cells. Animal and humans studies have borne this out, showing that Avemar is most effective on metastatic tumors, typically faster growing than primary tumors, and most likely to be responsible for cancer related mortality.
Assisting mechanisms of apoptosis, programmed cell death
Most radiation, chemotherapy and herbal therapies that kill cancer cells, work by inducing programmed cell death (cell suicide) a process called apoptosis. Avemar has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of therapies that induce programmed cell death by reducing the production of one enzyme called PARP that cancer cells over produce, and increasing the production of another called Caspase-3 that cancer cells under produce.
PARP (poly-ADP-ribose) is an enzyme that repairs breaks in DNA prior to cell division. Cancer cells need a lot of PARP because they reproduce so chaotically, the process of DNA replication introduces a lot of breaks and other mistakes, and because they are reproducing so quickly. Without adequate PARP, cancer cells cannot complete DNA replication.
Caspase-3 is an enzyme, that in the absence of PARP and the presence of many DNA breaks, induces the processes of programmed cell death. When used in combination with other therapies that induce apoptosis by other mechanisms, Avemar lowers the “threshold of apoptosis” making them more effective.
Unmasking the Enemy
Cancer cells evade the immune system’s first line of defense, Natural Killer (NK) cells, by displaying a false cell membrane feature called MHC-1 (Major Histocompatibility Complex 1), that essentially says “don’t attack me, I am one of the good guys.” Avemar has been shown to reduce the display of MHC-1 in cancer cell lines, resulting in improved NK cell recognition of tumors, and increased cell targeting and death.
Helping to enhance the coordinated functioning of the immune system
There are many aspects to the immune system’s response to cancer cells and tumors, and Avemar has been shown to improve how well these various elements work together.
Broadly speaking, Avemar has been shown to modulate the balance between Th1 and Th2 cytokines, chemical messengers of the immune system that correspond with the two compartments of immune function – cellular immunity (regulated by Th1 cytokines), which refers to the specific action of white blood cells against specific target cells, and humoral immunity (regulated by Th2 cytokines), which refers to soluble factors, hormones, cytokines, neurotransmitters, anti-bodies and other compounds that are dissolved in the tissues and blood stream that make the body a hostile environment for pathogens, or that help the body recover from injury.
Many people with cancer and other chronic illnesses have low cellular immunity, (low levels of Th1 cytokines) because of various causes, and as a result have elevated humoral immunity (high Th2 cytokines). But, many of the factors that help the body recover from injuries, that enhance the proliferation of endothelial, white blood and other cell types, also fuels the proliferation of cancer cells. Avemar has been shown to reduce the production of Th2 cytokines, and restore the normal balance of immune function, increasing immune regulation.
One aspect of this, as explained above, is that NK cell targeting and killing activity against cancer cells is enhanced. Other research shows that Avemar enhances the appropriate production of Tumor Necrosis Factor(TNF)-alpha by macrophages, a cytokine that targets and kills cancer cells. It has also been shown to upregulate the production of the cytokine, ICAM-1 (Inter Cellular Adhesion Molecule 1), that enables macrophages and T-cells to slip through blood vessel walls which enhances their tumor invasive properties.
