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Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach

The inversion of the pH gradient in malignant tumors, known as the pH paradigm, is increasingly becoming accepted by the scientific community as a hallmark of cancer. Accumulated evidence shows that this is not simply a metabolic consequence of a dysregulated behavior, but rather an essential proces...

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Autor principal: Koltai, Tomas
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7730959/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33287221
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21239221
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author Koltai, Tomas
author_facet Koltai, Tomas
author_sort Koltai, Tomas
collection PubMed
description The inversion of the pH gradient in malignant tumors, known as the pH paradigm, is increasingly becoming accepted by the scientific community as a hallmark of cancer. Accumulated evidence shows that this is not simply a metabolic consequence of a dysregulated behavior, but rather an essential process in the physiopathology of accelerated proliferation and invasion. From the over-simplification of increased lactate production as the cause of the paradigm, as initially proposed, basic science researchers have arrived at highly complex and far-reaching knowledge, that substantially modified that initial belief. These new developments show that the paradigm entails a different regulation of membrane transporters, electrolyte exchangers, cellular and membrane enzymes, water trafficking, specialized membrane structures, transcription factors, and metabolic changes that go far beyond fermentative glycolysis. This complex world of dysregulations is still shuttered behind the walls of experimental laboratories and has not yet reached bedside medicine. However, there are many known pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals that are capable of targeting the pH paradigm. Most of these products are well known, have low toxicity, and are also inexpensive. They need to be repurposed, and this would entail shorter clinical studies and enormous cost savings if we compare them with the time and expense required for the development of a new molecule. Will targeting the pH paradigm solve the “cancer problem”? Absolutely not. However, reversing the pH inversion would strongly enhance standard treatments, rendering them more efficient, and in some cases permitting lower doses of toxic drugs. This article’s goal is to describe how to reverse the pH gradient inversion with existing drugs and nutraceuticals that can easily be used in bedside medicine, without adding toxicity to established treatments. It also aims at increasing awareness among practicing physicians that targeting the pH paradigm would be able to improve the results of standard therapies. Some clinical cases will be presented as well, showing how the pH gradient inversion can be treated at the bedside in a simple manner with repurposed drugs.
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spelling pubmed-77309592020-12-12 Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach Koltai, Tomas Int J Mol Sci Case Report The inversion of the pH gradient in malignant tumors, known as the pH paradigm, is increasingly becoming accepted by the scientific community as a hallmark of cancer. Accumulated evidence shows that this is not simply a metabolic consequence of a dysregulated behavior, but rather an essential process in the physiopathology of accelerated proliferation and invasion. From the over-simplification of increased lactate production as the cause of the paradigm, as initially proposed, basic science researchers have arrived at highly complex and far-reaching knowledge, that substantially modified that initial belief. These new developments show that the paradigm entails a different regulation of membrane transporters, electrolyte exchangers, cellular and membrane enzymes, water trafficking, specialized membrane structures, transcription factors, and metabolic changes that go far beyond fermentative glycolysis. This complex world of dysregulations is still shuttered behind the walls of experimental laboratories and has not yet reached bedside medicine. However, there are many known pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals that are capable of targeting the pH paradigm. Most of these products are well known, have low toxicity, and are also inexpensive. They need to be repurposed, and this would entail shorter clinical studies and enormous cost savings if we compare them with the time and expense required for the development of a new molecule. Will targeting the pH paradigm solve the “cancer problem”? Absolutely not. However, reversing the pH inversion would strongly enhance standard treatments, rendering them more efficient, and in some cases permitting lower doses of toxic drugs. This article’s goal is to describe how to reverse the pH gradient inversion with existing drugs and nutraceuticals that can easily be used in bedside medicine, without adding toxicity to established treatments. It also aims at increasing awareness among practicing physicians that targeting the pH paradigm would be able to improve the results of standard therapies. Some clinical cases will be presented as well, showing how the pH gradient inversion can be treated at the bedside in a simple manner with repurposed drugs. MDPI 2020-12-03 /pmc/articles/PMC7730959/ /pubmed/33287221 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21239221 Text en © 2020 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Case Report
Koltai, Tomas
Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach
title Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach
title_full Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach
title_fullStr Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach
title_full_unstemmed Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach
title_short Targeting the pH Paradigm at the Bedside: A Practical Approach
title_sort targeting the ph paradigm at the bedside: a practical approach
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7730959/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33287221
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijms21239221
work_keys_str_mv AT koltaitomas targetingthephparadigmatthebedsideapracticalapproach