[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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