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Biomedical subjects

M F McCarty

Publications and source records attributed to M F McCarty.

At least 145 records · Page 8Linked to original sources
PubMed1984

A practical prescription for cancer prevention--synergistic use of chemopreventive agents.

Enzyme inducers, selenium, and retinoids exert broad-spectrum chemopreventive actions in animal models of carcinogenesis. The mechanisms of action of these three categories of agents are clearly distinct and complementary. BHA, selenium, and beta-carotene are probably safe and non-toxic for humans in doses which, in light of animal studies, can be expected to provide significant cancer protection. The concurrent application of safe, appropriate doses of these three agents could exert a potent synergistic chemopreventive effect, and, if continued throughout life, would in all likelihood substantially reduce cancer risk.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Thalidomide for autoimmune disease.

The therapeutic efficacy of thalidomide in erythema nodosum leprosum suggests that thalidomide might play a useful therapeutic role in other human immune-complex diseases. Thalidomide has shown anti-inflammatory or immunosuppressive actions in several animal models. Current evidence suggests that its rapid activity in ENL may result from suppression of neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytosis. Scattered anecdotal clinical reports of apparent response to thalidomide in various autoimmune diseases are hardly conclusive, but underline the desirability of appropriate pilot trials of thalidomide in autoimmune diseases, particularly those in which immune complex deposition plays a prominent role. Provided that a contraindication in fertile women is strictly observed, thalidomide therapy appears to be quite safe.

Animal Diseases↗
PubMed1983

Nutritional modulation of mineralocorticoid and prostaglandin production: potential role in prevention and treatment of gastric pathology.

Various lines of evidence indicate that aldosterone and prostaglandins may play physiological roles in protecting the gastric mucosa. This would suggest that low-sodium, high-potassium diets, and supplementation with essential fatty acids that are efficient prostaglandin precursors (as in evening primrose oil), may have value in the prevention and treatment of gastric ulcer and gastritis. A low-sodium, high-potassium diet may also reduce the risk of gastric cancer.

Animals↗
PubMed1983

Management of acute myocardial infarction with natural physiological agents.

A number of natural physiological agents deserve evaluation in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction. Prostacyclin and magnesium dilate large coronary arteries and could promote collateral circulation to ischemic regions, especially if used in conjunction with alpha-agonists to prevent a drop in coronary perfusion pressure. In addition, prostacyclin has anti-aggregatory and de-aggregatory effects on platelets and a stabilizing action on hypoxic tissue, while magnesium has anti-arrhythmic, potassium-retaining, and fibrinolytic effects, all of which could improve the outcome in acute MI. Adenosine or ribose infusion could be used to promote rapid repletion of adenine nucleotides in reperfused tissue, but unfortunately arteriolar vasodilation by adenosine might reduce collateral perfusion by "coronary steal". High-dose insulin has positive-inotropic (at minimal oxygen cost) and potent anti-arrhythmic actions that have not been adequately tested in previous clinical trials of "polarizing solutions". Carnitine infusion could improve the bioenergetics of ischemic myocardium by relieving inhibition of mitochondrial adenine nucleotide translocase.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1982

Cytostatic and reverse-transforming therapies of cancer - a brief review and future prospects.

Cytostatic cancer therapies are defined as those which retard cancer growth by intervening selectively in the disordered control mechanisms responsible for malignant behavior, without producing direct cytotoxicity. A number of possible approaches to cytostatic therapy are now under investigation and are briefly reviewed here - cyclic AMP congeners and promoters, prostaglandin precursors, thioproline, benzaldehyde, retinoids, interferon, chalones, antineoplastons, protease inhibitors, polar solvents. Suggestions for the further development of cytostatic therapies are offered, and a role for cytostatic therapy within a broad global concept of cancer therapy is proposed.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

Nutritional support of central catecholaminergic tone may aid smoking withdrawal.

Nicotine increases the release and turnover of catecholamines in the brain, and many features of the tobacco withdrawal syndrome--such as drug craving, poor concentration, impaired motor performance, drowsiness, fatigue, increased appetite with hyperphagia--may reflect diminished central catecholaminergic tone. Support of central catecholamine synthesis with the nutrients tyrosine and glucose tolerance factor (which enhance brain tyrosine levels) may lessen tobacco withdrawal symptoms and may increase the chance of success in smoking cessation programs. Nutritional measures of this type would probably be safer and more appropriate for long-term use than central-stimulant drugs.

Catecholamines↗
PubMed1982

Non-toxic inhibition of extracellular tumor enzymes--potential in cancer therapy.

Enzymes characteristically found in the extracellular fluid of tumors, or in elevated concentration in the plasma of tumor-bearing hosts--such as certain glycosidases, certain proteases, and tyrosinase--may possibly play a role in maintaining malignant transformation, promoting tumor invasion, or preventing immune rejection. Experimental data suggests that inhibition of these enzymes could have clinical value. A possible role for such inhibition in a generalized "reverse transformation" strategy is proposed.

Animals↗
PubMed1982

"Nutritional insurance" supplementation and corticosteroid toxicity.

Specialized "nutritional insurance" supplementation may reduce the risk of many important complications of long-term corticosteroid treatment. Supplementation with calcium, fluoride, activated vitamin D metabolites, and GTF, should help prevent osteoporosis. GTF, vitamin C, zinc and fluoride might help offset the inhibitory effect of corticosteroids on fibroblast and osteoblast function. Diabetic, hyperlipidemic and protein-losing effects might be compensated with supplementary GTF. Antioxidant nutrients could support humoral immunity and neutrophil function, while complementing the anti-inflammatory actions of corticosteroids. Supplementary magnesium could reduce the risk of nephrocalcinosis and nephrolithiasis.

Adrenal Cortex Hormones↗
PubMed1982

Nutritional prevention of pre-eclampsia--a special role for 1 series prostaglandin precursors?

PGE1 appears to act as a physiological regulator of uteroplacental blood flow. Its vasodilatory, anti-vasopressor, and platelet stabilizing effects could be expected to counteract the placental ischemia, hypertension and excessive coagulation that are seen in pre-eclampsia. Supplementation with efficient essential fatty acid precursors of PGE1 reduces platelet aggregation, has been used with success in the treatment of hypertension and arterial vasospasm, and might offer a nutritional means of reducing the incidence and severity of pre-eclampsia. Assurance of adequate general nutrition also appears to be of importance in this regard.

Alprostadil↗
PubMed1981

Optimized mitochondrial function as a nutritional strategy in cancer immunotherapy.

Activated macrophages require effective mitochondrial function, but mitochondrial efficiency is jeopardized by the free radicals produced naturally in macrophage metabolism. This perspective rationalizes the well-documented immunostimulant effects of coenzyme Q and of antioxidant nutrients such as selenium, vitamin E, and manganese. More generally, the nutritional optimization of mitochondrial function is proposed as a "neo-Warburgian' approach to cancer immunotherapy.

Antioxidants↗
PubMed1981

Toward a "bio-energy supplement" -- a prototype for functional orthomolecular supplementation.

A broad-spectrum approach to the nutritional optimization of bioenergetics is discussed as a specific example of the principle of functional orthomolecular supplementation. Experimental and clinical studies with "metavitamins" such as lipoic acid, carnitine, coenzyme Q, and creatine, and with mitochondrial antioxidants, indicate that many nutritional agents involved in bioenergetics are often functionally sub-saturated. Numerous therapeutic applications for a well-designed "bio-energy supplement" can be postulated.

Animals↗
PubMed1981

Prospects for nutritional control of hypertension.

Sodium restriction is not the only nutritional measure likely to prove valuable in the treatment and prevention of hypertension. The hypotensive effects of central adrenergic stimulation can be promoted by supplementary tyrosine, insulin potentiation (as with GTF), and (possibly) high-dose pyridoxine. Insulin potentiators (GTF) and prostaglandin precursors (essential fatty acids) should have direct relaxant effects on vascular muscle. A high potassium, low sodium diet, coenzyme Q, and prevention of cadmium toxicity (as with dietary selenium) may act to offset renally-mediated pressor influences. Functional combinations of these measures might prove to be substantially effective, in which case they would offer considerable advantages over potentially toxic drug therapies.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1981

Point of view--a role for "nutritional insurance" supplementation in preventive medicine.

While macronutrient dietary profile is receiving increasing attention as a determinant of disease risk, the potential of micronutrient supplementation as a public health tool has received little serious attention within orthodox medical circles. In light of the fact that the biochemical effects of many nutrients vary as a function of dose within and beyond "adequate" intake levels, and in light of individual differences in nutrient requirements, it is evident that micronutrient dietary profile--even under the assumption that all nutrient intakes are at least "adequate" or "normal"--plays a major role in determining long-term disease risk. Intelligently planned "nutritional insurance" supplementation could be expected to prevent or delay the onset of many degenerative diseases, while helping to satisfy idiosyncratically high requirements and preventing nutrient deficiency disease.

Humans↗
PubMed1981

Maturity-onset diabetes mellitus--toward a physiological appropriate management.

"Eumetabolic" therapies of diabetes are defined as those which promote and potentiate a normal physiological pattern of insulin activity--in contrast to the less subtle effects of exogenous insulin or sulfonylureas. Effective eumetabolic therapy would provide better metabolic control and reduce the risk of secondary complications, would be more convenient to administer, and would be especially appropriate for preventive use in the early stages of diabetes. Possible components of a eumetabolic therapy include: aspirin, as a potentiator of glucose-stimulated insulin secretion; GTF, to directly enhance the efficacy of insulin; weight loss, exercise, and fasting, to help reduce tissue resistance to insulin; mitochondrial "metavitamins", to optimize the oxidative disposal of excess substrate; a high-fiber, low-fat diet, which appears superior to traditional diabetic diets as a promoter of glucose tolerance. Following a prolonged fast, obese diabetics show substantial improvement in most parameters of insulin function--an effect which is to some degree independent of weight loss; long-term remission of diabetes may be possible if the benefits of therapeutic fasting are conserved by appropriate eumetabolic measures.

Amino Acids↗