D4RR3N
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5 alpha reductase inhibition testing
I want to have a herbal oil tested for 5 alpha reductase inhibition (Type I & II) and also want to have the active compound/s in the oil
identified. Anyone here know who could I get to preform this test and how much such a test would cost?
Thanks for any help in advance
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bahamuth
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Can't provide somewhere to get it performed, other than that I could do it for you. Pricetag a million USD or around there should cover it...
Seriously, a herbal oil, with what, like 5-20 major constituents, and 100 some minor constituents/oxidation product....
Firstly you should narrow it down abit, only to those established major constituents. And then plow through the litterature to see if you can find any
link there. If not look at the minor constituents......
Or if you are thinking of the oil as a whole, some constituents working in collaboration to inhibit hte enzyme? This makes it very complex and almost
impossible to figure out..
But on the bright side, anyone with a (fluorescence) spectrophotometer could run a regular enzyme activity assay for you on that oil in varying
concentrations on that particular enzyme, but my guess it would cost 1000's of USD just for the enzyme, 100's USD for a fitting substrate which gives
a detectable biproduct when acted on by the enzyme and finally 10000's USD to just set up and validate the method.
So an estimate of cost (that being me in the most expensive of places on Earth, Norway) I guess around 30000 USD for a simple assay of the oil.
Mind you, that almost everything not optimal for any reaction will have an inhibitory effect on the reaction so your finding may very well be
inconclusive anyways if you don't do a complete investigation of the oil..
Also, you forgot to mention if you wanted a in vivo or in vitro assay done, the latter cheap while the first unimaginable expensive
(and the only assay that has anything to do with medical science. Gasoline on cancer cells in a Petri dish will most certanly inhibit their growth or
kill them but is not a good drug against cancer is it...).
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
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D4RR3N
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Bahamuth
I have read several documents of herbs being screened for 5 alpha reductase and some companys screen 20 or 30 at a time so I think you may be off on
the cost of this. Also many companyss then go on to identify the active components. If I wanted to simply find out if the oil was a 5 alpha reductase
inhibitor I can buy a test kit for that for and it wouldn't even cost me $500
ps interested in vitro topical inhibition
http://www.mybiosource.com/datasheet.php?products_id=920584
[Edited on 5-9-2012 by D4RR3N]
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bahamuth
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Well, I live in a very expensive country..
But anyways, I may very well be off by a long shot, especially if a company has an established method.
But as I stated, in vitro screening is mostly like firing a shotgun Old school stuff.
We are entering a time where compounds are screened in silico and then modified for in vitro/in silico screening.
Sorry I can't help with finding a lab suitable. But in fear of repeating myself, most known herbal oils are defined, more or less, so I would go on to
google the constituents and also if there is any cross interactions.
As we both know, alot of herbs/herb oils etc. is inhibitors/activators etc. of many things according to popular science and misread/idiotic
publications and as such I would be very careful to spend money on something like that without substantial evidence..
Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
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Nicodem
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Thread Moved
9-9-2012 at 07:26 |
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