Effects of homeopathic arsenic on tobacco plant resistance to tobacco mosaic virus.

L Betti; L Lazzarato; G Trebbi; M Brizzi; GL Calzoni; F Borghini; D Nani

doi:10.1016/j.homp.2003.08.014

Homeopathy, Table of Contents

Homeopathy 2003; 92(04): 195-202
DOI: 10.1016/j.homp.2003.08.014

Original Paper

Effects of homeopathic arsenic on tobacco plant resistance to tobacco mosaic virus.

Theoretical suggestions about system variability, based on a large experimental data set

Authors

L Betti

¹Department of Agro-Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Bologna University, Italy
L Lazzarato

¹Department of Agro-Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Bologna University, Italy
G Trebbi

¹Department of Agro-Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, Bologna University, Italy
M Brizzi

²Department of Statistical Sciences, Faculty of Statistical Sciences, Bologna University, Italy
GL Calzoni

³Department of Evolutionary Experimental Biology, Faculty of Science, Bologna University, Italy
F Borghini

⁴Association for Medicine Applied to Italian Research on Water, Roma, Italy
D Nani

⁵Italian Anthroposophical Medical Group, Milano, Italy

Abstract

Context: This research aimed at verifying the efficacy of homeopathic treatments by plant-based bioassays, which may be suitable for basic research, because they lack placebo effects and provide large datasets for statistical analyses.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of homeopathic treatments of arsenic trioxide (As₂O₃) on tobacco plants subjected to tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) inoculation as biotic stress.

Design: Blind, randomized experiment using tobacco leaf disks.

Materials and methods: Tobacco plants (Nicotiana tabacum L. cultivar Samsun) carrying the TMV resistance gene N. TMV inoculated leaf disks were floated for 3 days in the following:

Distilled water (control)

H₂O 5 and 45 decimal and centesimal potencies

As₂O₃ 5 and 45 decimal and centesimal potencies

The main outcome measures is the number of hypersensitive lesions observed in a leaf disk.

Results: Homeopathic treatments of arsenic induce two effects on the plant: (i) increased resistance to TMV; (ii) decrease variability between experiments (system variability).

Conclusions: In this experimental model two actions of homeopathic treatment were detected: decrease in system variability and enhancement of the natural tendency of the system towards an ‘equilibrium point’.

Keywords

homeopathy - tobacco plants - virus infection - arsenic - resistance - system variability

Full Text

References

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