Professor Dov Lichtenberg
BS, MS and PhD in Chemistry, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Post Doc in Chemical Biophysics Caltech (1972-1974)
Lecturer, Hebrew University (1974-1979)
Visiting Professor, University of Virginia (1979-1981)
Professor, Tel Aviv University (1981-2011)
Previous Dean of Medicine (2002-2006).
Professor Emeritus (2011-present)
Present Topics: Solubilization and reconstitution of membranes
Oxidative stress and Antioxidants, Admission to Medical schools
The echo of scientific findings in the general media and in the general public varies from no response to unjustified optimisms. To understand the trends requires knowledge in several disciplines, from chemistry, life sciences and basic medical sciences to Psychology and Economics. In my lecture, I will tell you about some of my experiences with the echo to my publications and discuss with you the outcome.
Back in 1974, I came back to the medical school in Jerusalem after a 2year Post Doc at Caltech, where I studied phospholipid vesicles as models of biomembranes. Because I came to a department of pharmacology, it was "natural" to try to use these nano particles to deliver drugs and the first drug we used was Insulin entrapped in vesicles (liposomes). PerOs Application of this preparation failed so we tried rectal application. The outcome of this work appeared in the Jerusalem Post under the title "New hope to diabetic patients". In 2004, two papers appeared under the title "Vitamin E supplementation results in early death". This resulted in attack against the authors for heterogeneity of the participants, for choosing the end point and for the result being unreasonable. We conducted a meta-analysis planned such that the criticism were answered and got the same result. How did the producers of vitamin E responded? How did it affect sales? For how long?
Ten years ago, we found that Curcumin (turmeric) synergistically promotes the inhibition of cancer cells by Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) the latter enzyme plays a central role in the development of colorectal cancer. We therefore suggested that the synergistic effect may become clinically important because it can be achieved in the Serum of patients receiving standard, non-toxic anti-inflammatory or antineoplastic dosages of celecoxib. Did anyone benefit from this finding?
Recently, we conducted a meta-analysis on the cardiovascular benefits of indiscriminate supplementation of Omega-3 capsules. The results, expressed in terms of quality adjusted life years (QALY), were that in people receiving no statins, omega-3 supplementation results in an 8% decrease of the risk of cardiac death, whereas statin-treated people are hardly affected by omega-3 supplementation. This result, based on a Markov model and Monte-Carlo simulations, are intuitively understood by the general public and can therefore be the basis for the (personal) decision on whether to take Omega-3 supplements. As could have been expected, only a few newspapers related to this findings.
In the last 25 years, much of our time was devoted to different aspects of lipid peroxidation. Several oxidatively-modified lipids in membranes and in plasma lipoproteins affect both the normal function and the OS-associated pathological conditions, including lipid dyslipidemia factors antioxidants. We have developed colorimetric methods to study the kinetics of peroxidation and studied basic aspects of the mechanisms involved in lipid oxidation, using both lipoproteins and liposomal model systems. Recently we have been studied possibilities of quantitating OS, using the available data on the OS, as determined by the steady state concentrations of different biomarkers. Preliminary results support the conclusion of our previous study (Dotan et al, 2004) that there are several types of OS. Much of our current effort is devoted to a search for the different types and their role in different pathologies.
