(Cow
Urine Therapy and all traditional practices from
Indian Systems of Medicine have a strong scientific
base)
THE U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) grants thousands
of patents every week, and yet, the U.S. Patent,
6410059, titled "Pharmaceutical Compositions
containing Cow urine Distillate and An Antibiotic"
issued to S.P.S. Kanuja and 13 others and assigned
to the Council of Scientific And Industrial Research
(CSIR), attracted global attention. The Minister
For Science And Technology, Government of India,
at a Press Conference, said that the U.S. Patent
made him realise that all traditional practices
from Indian Systems of Medicine have a strong
scientific base.
Traditional
medicines , whether from Ayurveda or Siddha are
based on classical texts and systems, practices
and products handed down over generations going
back to Charak, Sushrutha, Vagabhatta, the Ashtangahridaya
and the Samhitas.
Combining the so-called cow urine distillate (the
term distillate itself is a misnomer, since the
material used is the residue, not the distillate),
with antibiotics, is no exception. Combining this
material in liquid or lyophilised powder form
with modern drugs is irrational, since we do not
know anything about the relative bioavailability
and pharmacokinetics of the components. In-vitro
experiments alone have little relevance, since
activity in-vivo, largely depends on plasma levels,
which in turn are related to serum binding properties
and absorption. The bio-enhancers known today,
including Piperine, generally affect metabolising
enzymes which are specific and which are stimulated
(when the metabolite is the active moiety) or
inhibited (when the intact molecule is the active
species). It is not to say that mammalian urine
does not contain useful constituents; in fact
ACTH was isolated from pregnant female urine,
other constituents include various enzymes, amino
acids and Erythropoetin.
A statement has been made that the grant of a
U.S. Patent has given the ultimate stamp of approval
for Indian Systems of Medicine and vindicates
them, since they have been tested by modern scientific
methods. The grant of a U.S. Patent or any other
patent, for that matter, does not guarantee the
validity of the scientific evidence presented
or even the validity of the patent itself. That
is the reason why the validity of a patent can
be challenged at any time during the entire life
of the patent. We, ourselves have the experience
of the Turmeric patent revoked through efforts
of CSIR.
While we do need to take into account the results
of experiments carried out on cow urine `distillate',
neither the reported experiments nor the grant
of the U.S. patent vindicates the use of cow urine
as a bio-enhancer. Much more needs to be done
before we can even consider its potential utility.
In the meanwhile, care should be taken to see
that the results published or the patent granted
do not lead to proliferation of quack medicine
using cow urine, claiming legitimacy from the
traditional or modern systems of medicine, let
alone the U.S. patent.
Urine
Therapy top