• Submitted by: admin
• Health and Medicine
• Science and Technology
• 04 / 19 / 2007

According to Pardo, the excess of iron causes the oxidation of the lipids in the mitochondria (where energy is produced in the cell). This brings about diseases that can be inhibited or healed through the use of mangiferine, one of the main components of Vimang, which protects the mitochondria against damage.

The Cuban expert noted that both Vimang and mangiferine extract are effective in the treatment of several pathologies such as hemochromatosis, thalassemia, Friedreich's Ataxia and some kinds of anemia in which an excess of iron is produced due to successive transfusions.

This new scientific discovery will also benefit patients affected by cancer, inflammations, heart conditions and other diseases related to excess of iron in the body.

The research lasted three months and was undertaken with the collaboration of the Universities of Camaguey, in eastern Cuba, and of Sao Pablo, in Brazil, said Pardo.

He explained that preclinical trials were carried out in animal livers to demonstrate the interaction of mangiferine with the iron in the cells. Later, clinical test were completed in humans struck by some of the diseases associated to iron accumulation in the body.

The Cuban scientist pointed out that though several drugs to fight excess of iron had been previously produced, they are extremely expensive and ineffective orally. They must be administered subcutaneously during about ten hours six days a week.

Pardo Andreu has been awarded for his study in the category of Preclinical Pharmacology by the Cuban Society of Pharmacology.