Holistic Health Show

A new study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine Journal concluded that “antihistamines and other drugs that increase the permeability of the lysomal membrane can be considered as an enhancing therapy for patiets with glioblastoma alongside established treatments.” In the research they found that “glioblastoma cells depend upon the expression of a gene which produces the MDGI protein (small fatty acid binding protein). Inhibiting of this gene results in the death of the tumor cells.” The absence of MDGI causes instability in the membranes of lysosomes, cleaning organelles found inside tumor cells, and in turn, resulting in the leakage of acidic and proteolytic enzymes contained in the lysosomes into the cytoplasm, initiating cell death. Reasearchers said their research “demonstrates that MDGI  is a key factor regulating and maintaining the structure of the lysosomal membrane. This is the first gene found to regulate the stability of the membrane.”  Their results are especially interesting because they found that cell death caused by leakage in the lysosomes of glioblastoma can be activated by using drugs that cross the blood-brain barrier” and in this study they used the antihistamine clemastine.

In cell cultures the antihistamine in lysosome-initiated cell death in glioblastoma cells were at concentrations that has no significant effect on healthy cells of different types.  In mouse models it was effective in reducing the spread of brain tumors and improving the survival rates of the animals. In the most invasive brain tumor model, the antihistamine resulted in the disappearance of the entire tumor.