An in vitro study on the effects of homeopathic Radium bromatum (9CH, 12CH, and 30CH potencies) on cancer cells

Abstract

Cancer is an abnormal growth of cells that can replicate uncontrollably and, in its later stages, spread throughout the body, potentially leading to death. In recent years, cancer has become one of the leading causes of death globally. It is usually characterized by the dysregulation of cell growth and the body’s resistance to the normal process of cell death (apoptosis). While conventional cancer treatments can be beneficial, they can also produce harmful side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, hair loss, blood clots, and infertility. The side effects experienced by cancer patients may vary depending on which healthy cells are affected by the treatment for the individual. Rostock et al. (2011); Frass et al. (2020); Bagot, Theunissen and Serral (2021) have highlighted the potential benefits of complementary treatments using homeopathic medicines as supportive care for cancer patients to improve their quality of life by alleviating side effects from conventional treatments. Radiation therapy, a commonly used cancer therapy that uses radiation, can result in adverse effects such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting, skin complications, injury or pain at the radiation site, and secondary cancers may develop. Homeopathic Radium bromatum has been used to help relieve these side effects in cancer patients who receive conventional treatments. Radium bromatum is a homeopathic remedy made from the toxic and radioactive radium bromide, and it is important to study the effects of the highly diluted radium bromide in its homeopathic form on cancer cells. Aim: This research study aimed to investigate the anti-cancer activity of homeopathic Radium bromatum of different potencies (9CH, 12CH, and 30CH) on cancerous human lung carcinoma (A549) and human hepatocellular carcinoma cell lines (HEP-G2) in vitro, with non-cancerous human embryonic kidney cell lines (HEK293) used as a control. Methods: The MTT assay method was used to determine cell viability, and cell morphology was observed under an inverted microscope. Triplicate experiments were performed. The results are presented as mean values with standard deviations (SD). Data were statistically analyzed using a one-way ANOVA test followed by Tukey's test for evaluating the statistical significance of variations observed between the groups. Mean values were considered statistically significant when p<0.05. Results: The results on morphological changes were observed after 48 hours post-treatment, showing preliminary evidence of the ability of Radium bromatum’s anti-cancer potential against lung and liver cancers, while sparing normal kidney cells. The decrease in malignant cells compared to non-malignant cells was significant as demonstrated by the MTT assay, and assessed under the inverted microscope. Rad-br 9CH demonstrated the most significant anti cancer effects, including reduced cell proliferation and viability, thus demonstrating cytotoxicity and cell termination of the cancer cells through possible apoptotic pathways. Further assessments demonstrated anti-proliferation activities of the various Radium bromatum potencies, with Rad-br 9CH showing the most significant effect towards cancerous cells A549 and HEP-G2. While the overall cell cytotoxicity was minimal, there was an increase in cell growth inhibition associated with increased concentration of the different samples. The samples also exhibited low cytotoxicity towards healthy cells (HEK293). The data showed that the Radium bromatum potencies had higher inhibition effects compared to the placebo, indicating that all the Radium bromatum samples were more effective than the placebo. Comparison between the cancer cells, A549 responded more effectively than HEP-G2 when exposed to Radium bromatum overall, showing higher cytotoxicity. Thereby, indicating that Radium bromatum in different potencies of 9CH, 12CH, and 30CH were able to induce cytotoxicity in the cancerous cells, causing reduced cell viability and cell death. Additionally, results observed in this study also showed that treatment with the placebo failed to elicit similar responses to the highly diluted Radium bromatum samples, highlighting that the Radium bromatum samples were superior to the placebo, and proving that the homeopathic medicines contain molecules or particles of the original source for it to cause a reaction beyond the placebo as demonstrated in this study. This study also exemplifies that homeopathic medicines cannot be interpreted as placebo. However, more research is needed in the form of an in vivo rat model to examine the systemic effects of this homeopathic preparation in order to facilitate its therapeutic application in cancer management.