OPC 讨论：Pycnogenol®，Masquelier’s®， 那个是正宗的呢？

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Arstila: Several scientists have been monitoring the ozone levels in the stratosphere and the UV-B levels reaching the ground for several years. The ozone level fluctuates with the season and the year, but there has been a trend of a five-to-ten percent annual decrease. Toronto scientists James Kerr and C. T. McElroy have noted that the amount of UV at ground level in Toronto has increased each year by 35% in winter and seven percent in summer.

UV radiation can produce a variety of dermatological effects in humans including erythema, photosensitivity, immunological alterations, photoaging, and carcinogenesis. UV-B is considered to be the portion of the UV spectrum primarily responsible for the deleterious effect of solar UV radiation.

Passwater: How does UV radiation damage skin?

Arstila: One possible mechanism underlying UV-B radiation-induced cell damage is oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is a cellular situation characterized by an elevation in the steady-state concentration of free radicals and other reactive oxygen species. Oxidative stress occurs if the balance between the cellular antioxidant defenses and the mechanisms triggering oxidative conditions is impaired. Zhao Guochang and I thought that since skin fibroblasts (cells found in growing tissue) have important functions in skin dermis, that it would be important to study the effects of UV-B on skin fibroblasts and then find ways of protecting the fibroblasts.

Passwater: Does Pycnogenol protect skin from UV damage?

Arstila: Yes. Pycnogenol reduced UV-B radiation-induced cytotoxicity and lipid peroxidation in a manner proportional to the amount of Pycnogenol present. Our studies indicate that UV-B radiation induces oxidative stress in cultured human skin fibroblasts, that UV-B induced oxidative injuries are not reduced by dl-alpha-tocopherol but are reduced by Pycnogenol, and that Pycnogenol scavenges superoxide radicals in vitro.

Passwater: Isn't Pycnogenol a good nutrient for skin anyway because it facilitates the production of the skin protein collagen?

Arstila: Yes, through its protection and sparing of vitamin C, it does aid collagen development. But, perhaps of greater interest, is that it improves the beneficial cross-linking between the amino acids of the fibers that give skin its flexibility and strength, while preventing the undesirable cross-linking between the amino acids that ages skin like leather. The nutrients of Pycnogenol have a great affinity for skin proteins and that helps protect them against free radicals and other reactive oxygen species.

Passwater: You mentioned that vitamin E didn't provide the protection against the UV-B, were other antioxidants studied as well, and, if so, how did they compare to the protective effects of Pycnogenol?

Arstila: No. We were trying to test nutrients that had a good chance of working. Vitamin E had shown promise from in vitro studies, but it had failed human studies. We wanted to look at both vitamin E and Pycnogenol. Pycnogenol was protective whereas vitamin E was not.

Passwater: What distinguishes Pycnogenol from other antioxidants?

Arstila: Each antioxidant has a unique antioxidant profile. There are many types of free radicals and other reactive oxygen species that harm the body, and antioxidants vary in their ability to quench these various reactive oxygen species. In addition, some antioxidants are water-soluble and others are fat-soluble. Their solubility determines where they can travel and what they will be able to protect. Pycnogenol is very water-soluble and is more protective against some reactive oxygen species such as measured by the TBARS test than either vitamin C or vitamin E, and is more protective against at least one stable free radical than vitamin E and more protective against superoxide than vitamin C. There are other reactive oxygen species in which vitamins C and E are more protective than Pycnogenol. The best approach is to utilize many different antioxidants -- vitamins C and E, selenium, carotenoids, and Pycnogenol as they tend to be synergistic.

What is of particular interest about the nutrients of Pycnogenol is their affinity for the skin proteins such as collagen and elastin. This is why we chose Pycnogenol for our UV-B study.

Passwater: What distinguishes Pycnogenol from other bioflavonoids?

Arstila: Pycnogenol is a water-extracted mixture of monomers, dimers, and oligomers, plus other polyphenols and organic acid "building-blocks." Therefore all of the nutrients so extracted are water soluble, whereas the bioflavonoid rutin is not very water- soluble. In addition, the nutrients in Pycnogenol are very bioavailable, whereas rutin is not very bioavailable. The oligomers present in Pycnogenol are unique and have unique antioxidant profiles.

Passwater: You have written books on Toxicology, what can you tell us about the safety of Pycnogenol?

Arstila: Yes, I have written many research papers on toxicology and there is no question that Pycnogenol is a non-toxic natural product. Pycnogenol was well tested before it was introduced in Europe originally as "Pycnoforton," and it has been well tested throughout the years to keep up with the increased sophistication of toxicological tests. As an example, Pycnogenol has been subjected to tests for mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, teratogenic (birth defects), and acute and gross toxicities in several species of animals. Many clinical studies have been made and no adverse effects have been reported. Pycnogenol has received extensive toxicity testing in comparison to food supplements such as vitamins because of its widespread use by physicians in Europe.

Passwater: Where are your current research interests?

Arstila: I am now concentrating on the free-radical damage of our genetic material DNA. It may be that DNA damage by free radicals is by far more important than other forms of free radical damage. The DNA damage may be important factors in cancer and aging.

Passwater: Thank you Professor Arstila.

All rights, including electronic and print media, to this article are copyrighted to � Richard A. Passwater, Ph.D. and Whole Foods magazine (WFC Inc.).

skydog

那个是正宗的呢？

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STERLING HEALTH AND HORPHAG IN LITIGATION ABOUT PYCNOGENOL™. Sterling Health of Prospect, Oregon, is in a legal struggle. It is in the U. S. District Court Eastern District of New York over the trademark PYCNOGENOL™. This information stunned the investigative staff of the MLM insider. We were doing research on the OPC wars (see article else where in this issue) when this came in! The information will no doubt rumble through the natural foods' industry. Information given to us indicates Dr. James Masquelier discovered and named antioxidant extracts as Pycnogenols. Dr. Masquelier had adopted the mark PYCNOGENOL ™ for worldwide use. Horphag Ltd. was a broker for Masqueliers non-profit company. The trademark was filed without the good Doctor's consent. Dr. Masquelier is supporting the Sterling Health legal action to free the trademark. For further information, call Sterling Health at 503-560-4111.

THE PYCNOGENOL™/ OPC WARS – If we ever thought the MLM industry was rough, you should look inside the world of manufacturers, brokers and importers. We had the opportunity to interview Mark Timon of T AAG Division, Primary Services Interna¬tional. They are the importers and distributors of professor¬ Masquelier's original, patented, standardized OPC extracts. Following is an excerpt from our conversations where we asked him about the validity of some of the claims and comments made by Horphag and their major marketer, Kaire International. If you have questions for Mark, you may FAX them to 203-435-3576. Following are claims followed by a summary of TAAG’s replies.

1. TAAG (Masquelier's OPC importers), Int. Nutrition Company (Dutch master broker for Masquelier's OPC) and SARPAP (Masquelier's manufacturer) are all broke.

TAAG REPLY - No, we are all quite solvent. Haimoff (Horphag owner) uses his "they're bankrupt" story frequently against any competitor and has been doing it for years. His claim is so old, it's a real yawn!

2 From Charles Haimoff: President and sole employee of Horphag, Sept. 1989 to U. S. import agent. "The first thing Dr. Masquelier wants us to do is trademark the name "Pycnogenol" in North America. TAAG REPLY- ¬In July of 1989 Dr. Masquelier sent Haimoff (Horphag) a letter forbidding him from obtaining the trademark in any country whatsoever!

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3. From Haimoff/Horphag. (1989): The reason Pycnogenol is so expensive is Masquelier gets such large royalties. TAAG REPLY – Haimoff/Horphag (H/H) never paid Dr. Masquelier any royalty. . Masquelier's Lab CEP paid H/B 15% broker fee for the period H/B distributed M's invention..

4. OPC-85 (pine bark) and OPC-92 (grape seed) are contaminated with pesticide and solvents. TAAG REPLY - Lab tests showed that Horphag's Pycnogenol™ (made by DRT) contained up to 10,000 parts per million ethyl acetate. SARPAP's (Masqueliers producer) OPC only showed several thousand parts per million which meets pharmaceutical standards. Pesticide residue is at the level of nearly non-existent.

5. Horphag's Pycnogenol™ is extracted through an exclusive water process. No solvents are used. TAAG REPLY - This claim is absurd Solvents are used to extract all proanthocyanidins, including Pycnogenol™. DRT who makes Pycnogenol™ for Horphag uses solvents. Yes, they first pump hot water through the crushed plant material, which removes the OPCs, dis¬solved bird droppings, dust, dirt, some plant oils, tars, and other materials. Then solvent extracts the OPC's. This is what Masquelier’s patents were all about. The latest analysis we have seen from and independent laboratory found residue of seven solvents in Horphag’s DRT produced material. Amounts ranged from insig¬nificant to very high.


6. Kaire's Pycnogenal is more bioavailable than any other. All other proanthocyanidin products are inferior, with bioavailability around the 33rd percentile while Kaire's is 95% bioavailable. TAGG REPLY – A proanthocyanidin is a proanthocyanidin no matter what plant it comes from.. The studies which established the nearly instantaneous bioavailability of OPCs were con¬ducted with grape seed extract from SARPAP.

7. Kaire's president, Nick Mangeris, met at dinner with Professor Masquelier in France, and asked the professor what could be done to make Pycnogenol™ most bioavailable. The professor jotted down a secret formula on a napkin and handed it to Mangeris. That secret formula is the reason why Kaire's products are so much better than anyone else's. To this day, Mangeris keeps the napkin safely locked away in a bank safe deposit box. TAAG REPLY - From Professor Masquelier: "Who is Nick Mangeris? I never met the man. "

8. Professor Masquelier was under contract to and paid by Horphag as head of Horphag's research department. TAAG REPLY - Horphag and Dr. Masquelier did work together starting in 1971. A succession of contracts followed with the latest we have on file written in 1986.

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These contracts indicate that Dr. Masqueliers lab CEP was the principal (boss) and Horphag was the distributor (salesman). The agreement goes on to say Horphag will receive a maximum commission of 15%... Horphag NEVER contributed to or paid for any research. The agreement also clarifies that "costs and fees" for the filing and registration of patents would be borne by Dr. Masquelier's company

9. Dr. Masquelier sold his patent and that's why other people are incorrectly making claim to it .TAAG REPLY - Dr. Jacques Masquelier is truly the father of OPCs. He discovered them. He isolated them. He named them. He characterized them. He invented very specific tech¬niques to extract them and only them from plants. He financed, conducted and oversaw numerous animal and human studies to establish the safety and efficacy of OPCs. In 1987, the U.S. Patent Office issued patent no. 4,698,360 to Dr. M covering the use and application of proanthocyanidiins as free-radical scavengers. Dr. M assigned his 1987 patent to two entities. The first assignee is now International Nutrition Company (INC) of the Netherlands. The second assignee at the time was Horphag Overseas. At the time, Charles Haimoff was Dr. M's trusted distributor. Although Haimoff and Masquelier have since ceased their relationship, both retain the right under law to practice the invention. In a February 19941etter to the American Natural Foods Industry Dr. M states: "I have retained my interest NOT to do business 'at gunpoint' as others have done but simply to make my knowledge freely available together with my rigidly quality controlled OPC extracts, be they from pine bark or grape seen extract. These extracts are manufactured by the French company SARPAP “In the U.S/Canada they are available from TAAG”.

10. SARPAP'S OPC- 85 patented pine bark is contami¬nated with turpentine. TAAG REPLY-This bit of slander is totally untrue. Pharmaceutical grade OPC-85 produced by SARPAP is Masquelier 's invention it does not use turpentine in processing and contains no turpentine residues of any kind The turpentine claim is a fabrica¬tion.

As you, our observant reader can tell this issue is really heating up. xxxxxxxx's proanthocyanidin brochure gently and scientifically blasts pine bark based products. In addition, it has a photo of Dr. Myron Wentz consulting with Dr. Jacques Masquelier. Dr. Michael Murray of Vital Communications put out a release indicating, "The studies and patent on the tree-radical scavenging activities of proanthocyanidins have shown the grape seed extract is substantially more potent and effective that pine bark extract. Bert Schwitters who has written the best book ever on OPG' s is involved Mr. Schwitters who owns International Nutrition Company is taking a TV film crew to southern France to do a film interview with Dr. Masquelier. Why? Dr. M. is tired of calls and letters. The video-taped interview should put all of the untruths and questions to rest. The MLMINSIDER has been promised one of the first copies of the film to hit the U.S. We will report the results directly to you as soon as humanly possible. There is even talk of doing a satellite uplink of the tape to Galaxy 5 or 7 for MLMers who have satellite bowls. We will keep you posted as the wars go on. This will probably affect several MLM companies and some will crash. This won't do Kaire's growth any good and perhaps even reverse it. Kaire may survive because they have diversified their product line. Other companies won't.

skydog

大家必须小心选择OPC的牌子，因为如果OPC萃取过程不严谨，吃多了会有反效果--prooxidation。