Graduate students at the Panama College of Cell Science are taught the deep and important concepts of Stem Cell Medicine, Stem Cell Biology, and Stem Cell Therapy. And we have been offering our online Ph.D. in Stem Cell Biology for almost 20 years. Still the only fully online Ph.D. program in Stem Cell Biology in the world, the Curriculum covers not only stem cells at the molecular level, but includes laboratory courses in the isolation of stem cell products from human blood and tissue, as well as stem cell therapeutic modalities.
Graduates of the Panama College of Cell Science are experts in this new medicine, and many of our students are health care professionals with advanced degrees.
In this essay, we will touch upon plant exosomes and why these cytokines and messenger molecules are superior to herbal supplements. By herbal supplements, we are referring to dry powders, dry botanicals, and the usual capsules sold as supplements containing dry plant extracts.
Typical products in this category include ginseng, milk thistle, green tea extract, St. John’s Wort, Horny Goat Weed, Icariin, Echinacea and so forth.
The ineffectiveness of herbal supplements has been written about at length, and well summarized in the essay: The Herbal Pipeline…And Why Most Herbal Supplements Do Not Work” published at: https://bengalbioscience.com/2020/04/25/why-most-herbal-supplements-dont-work/
In that work, Dr. Walter P. Drake summarized the problem with herbal supplements:
“In my view, there is no decent “alternative medicine” involving herbal products or botanicals at this time. I am excluding the CBD oils from this discussion which are proving to have many benefits. US and Canadian Growers and manufacturers are highly regulated with new and important products being developed. But for everything else, everyone, and I mean Everyone, buys their herbal powders from China, and repackages the powder into gel caps for resale, or even just sells the powder in some kind of plastic jar. Nobody knows what they are selling, nobody tests anything, test reports that sellers rely upon from their Chinese vendors are usually fraudulent, most of the products are worthless. This is not me saying this, it has been demonstrated time and time again in government testing studies. Even in those cases where the actual herb is being sold, say Ginseng, very little if any effect is ever noticed. We see the same tired old herbs over and over again.
The little known cause of this is that over 90% of all herbs, botanicals, and supplements are made in China. In addition, most brand name vitamins and generic antibiotic medicines are made in China as well. Just look at the fine print on that Centrum bottle you buy. The probability that your herbal formulation originated in China is extremely high, and there are so many unscrupulous sellers in China that no one has any confidence in their products. And why not, when story after story appears concerning substitutions, false ingredients, and mostly nothing at all except hay!! But you will see a lot of “Manufactured for XYZ Company”, “Distributed by XYZ Company”, “Imported by XYZ Company” suggesting the product is not of Chinese origin even though it is. And “Made in the USA” is of little value as well, since most makers of herbal supplements simply buy their ingredients from China and just repackage them in the US. We do not mean to pick on China, as their scientists at their top universities have been responsible for many terrific advances in medicine and technology. But Chinese products disguised as otherwise on the popular online shopping sites are the main problem you are going to face when seeking a quality herbal preparation for use.
So we definitely have problems with the herbal pipeline. Not only hiding the source of the botanical, but worse: What’s in that herbal capsule you are buying, and how if at all was it tested? The popular and useful Ginseng and Ginkgo Biloba supplements have been shown to be either contaminated with pesticides, non-existent in the formulation, or substituted with plain vegetable matter. Actual proof of purity and potency is typically lacking. So, not only is the source of product generally not clear, but on top of everything is the intentional flooding of the herbal market with adulterated, substituted, and misbranded products as many Chinese entrepreneurs seek to cash in on the supplement market in the US.”
It was further pointed out that for many herbal supplements, the solubility of dried herbal powders is usually very low, and this is coupled with poor bioavailability (absorption by the gut). Plus, the always lurking problems of adulterated and substituted ineffective product coupled with no testing all lead to worthless, ineffective herbal supplements being unwittingly purchased by consumers today.”
Here Come the Exosomes
The identification of exosomes in human tissues and cell cultures came about as a byproduct of extensive stem cell research over the last several decades. Originally described as contributing factors in successful stem cell therapies, it was not long before plant exosomes became isolated and characterized.
Exosomes, not chemical compounds, are the active factors in plants and herbs. For example, it is most likely the exosomes in fresh Epimedium “Horny Goat Weed” that exert an erectogenic effect, rather than the principle chemical extract, Icariin. Exosomes are biologics, should be kept refrigerated, and must be isolated using non-damaging techniques such as high heat or alcohol.
Also, in many herbal isolation techniques, low centrifugation is used, and consequently, all exosomes are discarded in supernatant. Exosomes require 10,000 G to get a pellet from a supernatant!
A wonderful inquiry into plant exosomes has been made by our former graduate of the Panama College of Cell Science, Dr. Tong Shen, in her groundbreaking paper: “Characterization and Comparison of Exosomes Found in Stem Cell Cultures to Those Found in Plant Botanicals Especially Cocos Nucifera”. [Reference: Shen, Tong (2021): Characterization and Comparison of Exosomes Found in Stem Cell Cultures to Those Found in Plant Botanicals Especially Cocos Nucifera. figshare. Thesis. [https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14658351.v1 ]
Read or Download Here: TongShenPlantExosomes
Dr. Shen’s review of the literature found that exosomes extracted from plant botanicals such as cocos nucifera (coconut) water demonstrated similar biological activities to exosomes derived from adult stem cell cultures. She further found that extracts from plants are already widely used as effective active ingredients in cosmeceuticals such as the skin-care formulations through topical applications. The ingestion of fresh vegetables and fruits and their corresponding exosomes results in an array of physiological and pathological actions in humans, playing major roles in gut health, immunity, and the reduction in inflammation.
Contrary to dried-out herbal supplements, plant exosomes must be harvested by gentle means in a cold environment to prevent biological degradation. If any technique will damage a cell, then that technique will damage exosomes and eliminate their collection entirely.
Dried herbs obtained from various heating techniques, or via alcohol extraction will never contain the real active ingredients (exosomes) of the fresh plant counterparts, and is most likely the main reason for failure of plant and herbal supplements.
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