[Omeo33] Art 1070 - Homeopathy, 2009, 98 (4), 198-207

[Gino Santini]

Isopathic treatment effects of Arsenicum album 45x on wheat seedling  
growth – further reproduction trials
Lisa Lahnstein, Mascha Binder, André Thurneysen, Martin Frei-Erb,  
Lucietta Betti, Maurizio Peruzzi, Peter Heusser and Stephan Baumgartner

Background
Two experimental studies on wheat preintoxicated with Arsenic trioxide  
yielded a significant shoot growth increase after an isopathic  
application of Ars-alb 45x. One independent reproduction trial  
however, yielded an effect inversion: wheat shoot growth was  
significantly decreased after application of Ars-alb 45x.

Aims
In this study we investigated the role of three potential confounding  
factors on the experimental outcome: geographical location of the  
experiments, influence of the main experimenter, and seed sensitivity  
to Arsenic poisoning. Laboratory-internal reproducibility was assessed  
by meta-analysis.

Material and methods
Wheat poisoned with Arsenic trioxide was cultivated in vitro in either  
Ars-alb 45x, water 45x, or unpotentised water. Treatments were blinded  
and randomised. Shoot length was measured after 7 days. The stability  
of the experimental set-up was assessed by systematic negative control  
(SNC) experiments.

Results
The SNC experiments did not yield significant differences between the  
three groups treated with unpotentised water. Thus the experimental  
set-up seemed to be stable. We did not observe any shoot growth  
increase after a treatment with Ars-alb 45x in any of the newly  
performed experiments. In contrast, the meta-analysis of all 17  
experiments performed (including earlier experiments already  
published) yielded a statistically significant shoot growth decrease  
(−3.2%, p = 0.017) with isopathic Ars-alb 45x treatment. This effect  
was quantitatively similar across all five series of experiments.

Conclusions
Ultramolecular Ars-alb 45x led to statistically significant specific  
effects in arsenic poisoned wheat when investigated by two independent  
working groups. Effect size and effect direction differ, however. The  
investigated factors (geographical location, experimenter, seed  
sensitivity to Arsenic poisoning) did not seem to be responsible for  
the effect inversion. Laboratory external reproducibility of basic  
research into homeopathic potentisation remains a difficult issue.

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