Number of succussion strokes affects effectiveness of ultra-high-diluted arsenic on in vitro wheat germination and polycrystalline structures obtained by droplet evaporation method.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to investigate whether the number of succussion strokes applied after each dilution step when preparing the homeopathic treatments influences the effectiveness of ultra-high-diluted (UHD) arsenic trioxide at the 45th decimal dilution/dynamization (As2O345x).


METHODS
Wheat seeds, previously stressed with ponderal As2O3, were treated with: As2O345x, H2O 45x (dynamized control), or pure water (negative control). The succussion was done manually, and various succussion durations (numbers of strokes) were tested for each treatment. Treatment effectiveness was tested blind using the in vitro germination test and the droplet evaporation method (DEM). Data were processed by the Poisson test (germination test) and by two-way analysis of variance (DEM).


METHODS
We evaluated both the in vitro germination rate, by counting the non-germinated seeds, and the complexity of polycrystalline structures (PCS) (local connected fractal dimension (LCFD)) obtained by evaporating leakage droplets from stressed seeds that had been watered with the different treatments.


RESULTS
We observed a highly significant increase in germination rate when the number of strokes (NS) was ≥32 for both As2O345x and H2O 45x, and a significant increase in the LCFD of PCS for As2O345x when the NSwas ≥32 and for H2O 45x when it was 70.


CONCLUSIONS
Both experimental approaches showed increased effectiveness for treatments prepared with a higher number of succussion strokes. These results indicate that succussion may have an important influence on treatment effectiveness, and so highlight the need for further research.
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: lucietta.betti@unibo.it.
Lucietta
L
Betti
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: grazia.trebbi@unibo.it.
Grazia
G
Trebbi
Society for Cancer Research, Switzerland. Electronic address: m.kokornaczyk@vfk.ch.
Maria Olga
MO
Kokornaczyk
Italian National Health System, Lombardy District, "Azienda Sanitaria Locale" Milan, Italy. Electronic address: daniele.nani@crs.lombardia.it.
Daniele
D
Nani
Association for Sensitive Crystallization, Andalo Valtellino, Sondrio, Italy.
Maurizio
M
Peruzzi
Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: giovanni.dinelli@unibo.it.
Giovanni
G
Dinelli
Department of Pathology and Diagnostics, University of Verona, Italy.
Paolo
P
Bellavite
Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: maurizio.brizzi@unibo.it.
Maurizio
M
Brizzi
D000077237:Arsenic Trioxide; D001152:Arsenicals / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002623:Chemistry Techniques, Analytical; D003460:Crystallization; D004339:Drug Compounding; D018525:Germination / Q000187:drug effects; D006705:Homeopathy; D006801:Humans; D010087:Oxides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014908:Triticum / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development
D001152:Arsenicals; D010087:Oxides; D000077237:Arsenic Trioxide
Crystalline structures; Droplet evaporation method; Germination test; Isopathic model; Succussion number; Ultra high dilutions; Wheat