Organotherapy is a therapeutic technique that uses animal extracts to treat certain ailments. In this sheet, you will discover this practice in more detail, its principles, its history, its benefits, who practices it, how and what are the contraindications.

Organ therapy belongs to opotherapy, a branch of medicine that uses extracts of organs and animal tissues for therapeutic purposes. More specifically, organotherapy offers extracts from various endocrine glands. In the body, these glands produce hormones that are used to regulate many metabolic functions. The glandular extracts most frequently used today are obtained from the thymus and adrenal glands of farm animals, most commonly cattle, sheep or pigs. These extracts would strengthen the immune system. Some proponents of organ therapy claim that they also act as a real facelift, but the scientific evidence in this regard is very poor.

The main principles

In the same way as for homeopathic remedies, the extracts are diluted and energized. The dilution can range from 4 CH to 15 CH. In organotherapy, a given organ extract will have an effect on the homologous human organ: an animal heart extract will therefore act on the individual’s heart and not his lungs. Thus, the healthy organ of the animal would have the ability to heal the diseased human organ.

Nowadays, the mechanisms of organotherapy remain unknown. Some postulate that its effects are due to the peptides and nucleotides contained in the extracts. This is because endocrine gland extracts, even if they do not contain hormones (because the extraction processes used today remove all oil-soluble substances, including hormones), contain peptides and nucleotides. Peptides are growth factors active in small doses. As for the nucleotides, they are the carriers of the genetic code. Thus, certain peptides contained in these extracts (in particular thymosin and thymostimulin) could have immunomodulatory effects, that is to say they could stimulate or slow down immune reactions, depending on whether they are too weak or too strong. .

Very few scientific studies have been published on organotherapy after the popularity surge of the 1980s. The therapeutic efficacy of thymus extract is therefore far from being established despite some encouraging preliminary results.

In recent years, several researchers have evaluated the clinical use of thymosin alpha1, a synthetic version of a thymus-derived biological response modifier. Clinical trials in the treatment and diagnosis of diseases related to the immune system point to a promising path. Thus, thymus extract would make it possible to:

Contribute to cancer treatment

13 studies carried out on patients suffering from different types of cancer were the subject of a systematic review on the use of thymus extracts as an adjuvant to conventional cancer treatments. The authors concluded that organotherapy could have a positive effect on T lymphocytes, responsible for cellular immunity. It could help to delay the progression of the disease. However, according to another study, organotherapy as a cancer treatment could be a rather restrictive therapy, potentially toxic and relatively of little benefit.

Fight respiratory infections and asthma

Results from a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial involving 16 children indicated that oral intake of calf thymus extract significantly reduced the number of cases of respiratory tract infections.

In another clinical trial, carried out on asthmatic subjects, taking a thymus extract for 90 days had the effect of reducing bronchial excitability. This treatment may have a long-term soothing effect on the immune system.

Contribute to the treatment of hepatitis

A systematic review of the scientific literature evaluated different alternative and complementary therapies in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. Five studies, comprising a total of 256 people, investigated the use of bovine thymus extract or a similar synthetic polypeptide (thymosin alpha). These products were taken alone or in combination with interferon, a drug commonly used to reverse this type of hepatitis. Treatments using thymosin alpha combined with interferon have given better results than interferon alone or placebo. On the other hand, the treatment based on thymus extract alone was not more effective than the placebo. It would therefore seem that the peptides could be effective provided they are combined with interferon. However, before being able to conclude on the effectiveness of organotherapy in treating or regressing hepatitis C, larger studies will be necessary.

Reduce the frequency of periods of allergies

At the end of the 1980s, two randomized clinical trials with placebo, carried out on 63 children suffering from food allergies, made it possible to conclude that thymus extract could reduce the number of allergy attacks. However, no other clinical study has been published since regarding this condition.

The specialist

Specialists in organotherapy are rather rare. Generally, it is naturopaths and homeopaths who are trained in this technique.

Course of a session

The specialist will first interview his patient to find out more about his profile and symptoms. Depending on whether the glands need to be stimulated or slowed down, the specialist will prescribe a remedy with a more or less high dilution. Obviously, the nature of the dilution will depend on the organ concerned.

Become an “organotherapist”

There is no professional title that would designate a specialist in organotherapy. To our knowledge, the only training given in this area is integrated into naturopathic courses at recognized schools.

Contraindications of organotherapy

There are no contraindications to the use of organotherapy.

In the 1889th century, opotherapy enjoyed a certain vogue. In June XNUMX, the physiologist Adolphe Brown-Séquard announced that he had injected himself under the skin an aqueous extract of crushed testicles of dogs and guinea pigs. He claims that these injections restored his physical strength and abilities, which age had diminished. Thus began research in organotherapy. It was believed then that the various hormones – responsible for growth or immunity – contained in these preparations carried the genetic code and had the power to reprogram cells, and thus stimulate healing.

Back then, fresh glands were simply chopped and powdered before being taken orally. The stability of such preparations could be poor, and patients often complained about their taste and texture. It was not until the beginning of the XNUMXth century before more stable and better accepted gland extracts were obtained.

Organ therapy enjoyed relative popularity until the first half of the 1980th century, and then practically fell into oblivion. In the 1990s, European researchers nevertheless carried out some convincing tests on the thymus. However, fears related to the possible spread of mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy) through the consumption of products made from farm animal glands have helped to dampen interest in this type of product. Thus, clinical research declined significantly during the XNUMXs.

Nowadays, the use of glandular extracts essentially belongs to the field of naturopathy. There are, mainly in Europe, specialized clinics that use extracts from the adrenal glands to treat various diseases.