Physical-Chemical Analysis of Different Homeopathic Medicines Using Solvatochromic Dyes as Indicators of Solvent Dipole Moment Changes

Introduction: Homeopathy is a recognized science throughout the world, but the lack of knowledge about its mechanism of action still renders it controversial. Currently, several theories are proposed, one of which is that specific electromagnetic fields of the solvents can convey information to biological systems, from the diluted raw material. Recently, the use of solvatochromic dyes has been proposed to identify changes in the solvent dipole moment, along successive dilutions, by solute interference. The present research proposes the evaluation of the dielectric activity of homeopathic drugs by means of the absorbance curve obtained by different solvatochromic dyes, using different potencies.

Methods: Samples of Antimonium crudum, Phosphorus, Zincum metallicum and Silicea terra, in potencies ranging from 6 to 200 cH (as well as the controls: pure water, dynamized pure water and vehicle [30% ethanol solution]), were analyzed by the solvatochromic dye method to establish an absorbance curve. The dyes used were: ET33, BDN and Violet Methylene. The analysis was performed in a FEMTO™ spectrophotometer (Brazil), with high sensitivity for optical density variations and with a wavelength scan of at least 1 nm. All samples were analyzed in triplicate and the results were evaluated by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-test, with p ≤ 0.05.

Results: Preliminary data from tested samples of Antimonium crudum 120 cH and Phosphorus 30 cH showed an increase in the peak of absorbance of Methylene Violet, but not the other dyes. On the other hand, only Antimonium crudum 30 cH showed an increase in the absorbance of the ET33 dye. The analyses of other samples, potencies and dyes are still in progress.

Conclusions: Preliminary results indicate that variation of different solvatochromic dyes might be useful in the characterization of different potencies of homeopathic medicines, according to changes in the peak of absorbance obtained in the visible light spectrum.

Keywords: Ultradilutions, homeopathy, spectrophotometry, electrical resonance

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).