AGITATION OF HIGHLY DILUTE-SOLUTIONS DOES NOT INDUCE SPECIFIC BIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITY

The hypothesis of an oxido-reduction reaction by the atmospheric oxygen dissolved during the agitation step of the dilution process was proposed to explain the effect (achromasia) of highly dilute ligands on basophil staining by toluidine blue. We report on two recent in vitro blind experiments. 1. We assessed the number of human basophils after incubation with distilled water or human anti-IgG or anti-IgE antisera, all diluted down to log 30. Only the anti-IgE dilutions provoked basophil achromasia whereas anti-IgG or distilled water, which underwent the same process of dilution/agitation, were ineffective. 2. Basophils were incubated with an anti-IgE antiserum after treatment with either Apis mellifica (A. mel.) or NaCl, both highly diluted/agitated. A significant inhibition of the IgE-induced achromasia was observed with A. mel. dilutions but not with the NaCl ones. Thus agitation and the resulting oxygenation are not sufficient to explain the biological effects of highly dilute ligands.