Publication

Local Doctor’s Invention to Treat Previously ‘Untreatable’ Viruses

A Johannesburg doctor has invented a machine that has the potential to revolutionise treatment of certain viral infections and in an entirely non-invasive manner.

The Lyndale-Adler system, also known as Lectroject has two main components. The one develops a magnetic field around the patient. The second, which gives off alpha particle that passes through one of two electrodes, underneath which is a layer of acyclovir. The acyclovir is carried through the skin one atom at a time directly into the infected cells, where it arrests viral replication. Thereafter the body can eliminate the virus in the normal way.

Inventor Dr. Keith Maxwell says, “We’ve seen success rates of 85% in the treatment of herpes 1 and 2, above 85% in cytomegalovirus and above 95% in a number of the coxsackie B viruses. We’ve tested the device on more than 300 patients with consistently positive results that have been backed up by findings of Lancet Laboratories, which tested subjects before and after treatment.”

He emphasizes that a particular strength of this treatment is that the acyclovir is conveyed straight to the cells, bypassing the bloodstream. “In the case of oral treatments, what isn’t destroyed by the gastric juices is metabolized by the liver and continues to circulate in the blood. However, herpes, cytomegalovirus and the coxsackie viruses are not present in blood in their latent stages, so oral medication is unlikely to be effective. The tablets can also be very expensive. With Lectroject, a tube of acyclovir, which costs R90, can be used to treat approximately 20 patients. So not only is it a superior treatment – it’s also cost- effective.”

The next step will be to publish these findings in a clinical paper in a medical journal. “Once they’re generally known and accepted, the Merck manual will have to be rewritten where, next to herpes and cytomegalovirus, it says "Therapy – none".”

Future directions

The device is very compact and Dr Keith says there is a possibility of later versions being smaller still. It started out as a much larger machine, however, and in its current form represents six years of ongoing refinement. Dr Keith notes that to date, the device’s success has been in treating DNA viruses, but he also wants to start looking at its application in RNA viruses, notably HIV. “This will take many more years of testing and research. The treatment of RNA viruses is very different from that of DNA viruses. It’s very important when treating RNA viruses not to destroy the cell. I foresee initially taking a cocktail of current HIV treatments. We’ll put that through the system as we currently do with the acyclovir and see what happens.”

He concludes be noting that there is nothing remotely comparable with Lectroject anywhere in the world. “Recent reports from the USA suggest that they’re only now at the stage we were at six years ago when it comes to transdermal drug delivery without patches.”