The Lauric acid as a

treatment for

Hepatitis C

Ramón B. Colón Rivera

BIOL3009

Introduction

Hepatitis C virus is a chronic liver inflammation that if don’t get treated the person can develop cancer in this organ.

You can get infected by blood that have the disease.

Population affected

Globally about 170 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus.

About 75% of people infected with HCV are unable to eliminate the virus and instead, remain chronically infected.

The great problem is that this disease don’t present physical symptoms and many humans don’t know that have it.

http://microbiologia2a.blogspot.com/2013/05/virus-del-hepatitis-y-sus-diferentes.html

What are the symptoms?

Some symptoms are:

Tiredness

Loss of appetite

Nausea and vomiting

Soreness in the upper right part of the belly

Lauric acid

• Lauric acid is an inexpensive, non-toxic and safe to handle compound often used in laboratory investigations of melting-point depression.

• Lauric acid is a solid at room temperature but melts easily in boiling water.

http://www.nutridieta.com/coco-mas-que-saludable/

Laboratory Mouse

• The laboratory mouse is a rodent, usually from the species Mus musculus, used for scientific research.

• It’s karyotype is composed of 40 chromosomes.

http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2010/12/27/in_the_laboratory_rats_are_upstaging_mice/

¿Why is the reason that I am going to use Mus musculus?

• Easy handling.

• Are similar to human immune system.

• They have a high number of offspring.

• Being eutherian mammals, have a very similar human genome.

Problem

¿Will the Lauric acid serve as a treatment

for the Hepatitis C virus?

Hypothesis

• The Lauric acid will serve as a treatment for the Hepatitis C virus.

Methodology

• I will need 45 laboratory mice to my experiment.• Use infected laboratory mice with the virus.• The lauric acid is going to be mixed with water and I

will give that mix to the rats.• I will have three groups:

– A control group and two experimental.– Control group: 15 laboratory rats that will be use to see the

different reactions of the virus.– First experimental group: 15 mice will take 1 teaspoon of

lauric acid daily.– Second experimental group: 15 mice will take 2 teaspoon

weekly.

Methodology

• I will left the first experimental group 6 weeks to let the virus reproduce.

• The second experimental group will be left 2 weeks to let the virus reproduce.

• Then I will make some laboratory test like CBC, Metabolic panel (to see ALT and AST) and viral load test.

• Begin to administer the doses of lauric acid.

Methodology

• Every week I will take some blood to view the changes on an electron microscope.

• Base on the changes observed I will decide increase or decrease the doses of the experimental groups.

• This experiment will be make for 4 months.

• When I finish all the experimentation I will make all the laboratory tests to see the differences and put the results in tables.

Justification

• The importance of this research are:

– They are so much people infected with the virus.

– The cost of the treatments are very expensive and some people can’t get treated. The cost, at least in the U.S., is very concerned by the health authorities. Ninety days of treatment a daily pill cost in that country between $60 and $ 80,000 dollars.

Primary References• Celeste Reker, K.M. Islam.Risk factors associated with high

prevalence rates of hepatitis C infection in Egypt.International Journal of Infectious Diseases.Vol.25.Aug. 2014.Pages 104-106.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971214014398

• Norma de Paula Cavalheiro, Abel de la Rosa, Slava Elagin, Fatima Mitiko Tengan, Antonio Alci Barone. Hepatitis C virus: molecular and epidemiological evidence of male-to-female transmission.The Brazilian Journal of Infectious Diseases.Vol.14.Issue 5. Sept–Oct. 2010.Pages 427-432.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S141386701070088X

Primary References • Qiumin Ma, P. Michael Davidson, Qixin Zhong. Antimicrobial

properties of lauric arginate alone or in combination with essential oils in tryptic soy broth and 2% reduced fat milk.International Journal of Food Microbiology. Vol.166.Issue 1.Aug.2013.Pages 77-84.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168160513003085

• Wen-Cheng Huang, Tsung-Hsien Tsai, Lu-Te Chuang, You-Yi Li, Christos C. Zouboulis, Po-Jung Tsai.Anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties of capric acid against Propionibacterium acnes: A comparative study with lauricacid.Journal of Dermatological Science, Vol.73.Issue 3.March,2014.Pages 232-240.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0923181113003587

Secondary References

•http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001329/•http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/summary/summary.cgi?cid=3893•http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/hepc_ez/•http://www.hepatitisscotland.org.uk/index.php/what-s-the-difference-between-hepatitis-b-and-c/•http://www.elmundo.es/salud/2014/05/13/5371f94ee2704ed86b8b4574.html