Prof John G Ionescu PhD

Prof. Ionescu is Scientific Director and founder of the Special Clinic Neukirchen, located in 93453 Neukirchen, Germany. After graduation in biochemistry and immunology at the University of Bucharest, 1976 and a scientific fellowship in Montreal, Canada, Dr.Ionescu wandered to West-Germany and established there since 1980. He received his PhD in medical biochemistry 1983 from the University of Saarbrücken, Germany, and directed until 1985 the research programme of a dermatological clinic in Aschaffenburg. Main research areas included the atopic diseases, psoriasis, arthritis and the MCS-syndrome. Dr.Ionescu founded 1986 in Bavaria the Special Clinic Neukirchen (www.spezialklinik-neukirchen.de) for the treatment of allergic, skin and environmental diseases according to the principles of the nutritional and environmental medicine. His 160 bed facility is fully integrated in the official hospital system and the treatment fees are reimbursed by all German and Austrian health insurances. The original diagnostic and therapeutic approaches of his cortisone-, cytostatic- and radiation-free concept have been reported in more than 220 scientific publications in Germany, Europe and USA. Current work involves the investigation of biological redox systems and free radical reactions in skin, environmental and cancer patients. His research results are subjects of new methods for the rapid free radical and redox potential assessment in human blood samples, new dermatological formulations for the diseased and aging skin, patented anti-cancer drugs and original integrative protocols for the treatment of MCS, CFS and chronic dermatoses. Dr. Ionescu is member of the European Academy for Allergology and Clinical Immunology, of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine, of the German Society of Environmental and Human Toxicology and of the German Society of Anti-Aging Medicine. Between 1998 and 2006 he served as Professor for Applied Laboratory Medicine at the Capital University of Integrative Medicine, Washington, D.C. (USA). From May 2006 until December 2010 Prof.Ionescu was appointed as Associate Professor for Gerontology at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy Carol Davila in Bucharest. Since April 2007 he is continuously acting as Visiting Professor for Nutritional Medicine at the Donau University, Krems/ Vienna. Since March 2009, he became a member of the Commission for Environmental Medicine of the Ministry of Health in Berlin. On February 2014 he was nominated as Associate Professor for Integrative Medicine at the Medical University Titu Maiorescu in Bucharest.

2015 - Personalized anti-inflammatory nutrition for allergic and auto-immune disorders

Our experience in the treatment of over 20,000 atopic eczema (AE), urticaria and autoimmune patients shows that besides allergic mechanisms an increasing number of pseudoallergic reactions caused by toxic-irritative pollutants (exhaust particles, solvents, pesticides, heavy metals) are responsible for the inflammatory process behind the symptoms. Intrauterine and postnatal influences of environmental factors have been also confirmed.
Besides the routine analysis of increased specific IgE- and IgG4-factors in our atopic patients after challenge meals (CM), inflammation markers like acute phase proteins (1 antitrypsin, 2 macroglobulin, haptoglobin and caeruloplasmin) showed a surprisingly rapid increase after CM in the atopic group, but not in healthy subjects.
Serum histamine levels (RIA-Test) showed a significant increase 1/2 hour after CM and after individual oral provocation with lactose, fructose, tyramine, serotonine or phenylethylamine. Accordingly, we noticed significantly reduced DAO and Type B MAO activities in thrombocyte–rich plasma of AE patients. In contrast, IgE-mediated reactions were absent in our scleroderma, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis patients; instead, a large number of positive food-specific IgG4, increased circulating immune complexes and cellular sensitization reactions (ALCAT Test) were recorded in these groups.
The carbohydrate intolerance reactions (H2-test) were in good correlation to the significantly lowered disaccharidase activites (lactase, maltase) in the gut of AE and autoimmune patients. This was closely related to chronic intestinal dysbiosis, leading to toxic microbial breakdown products (alcohols, aldehydes, phenols, diamines) and to an increased intestinal permeability, histamine release and impairment of liver detox functions.
Oral intake of different food homogenates/juices resulted in significant changes in the free radical generation in blood, according to their ROS-blocking or ROS-increasing effects.
Our recent research shows that appropriate combinations of hypoallergenic protein hydrolysates with sugar alcohols and -3 PUFAs (EQUIDERM PLUS®) are showing high free radical quenching and anti-inflammatory properties and a remarkable symptom alleviation in allergic and autoimmune patients.
With the emergence of affordable microarray gene expression profiling methods we had the opportunity to ex-vivo test certain nutraceutical combinations for their silencing ability on inflammatory genes before administering it to the patient (nutrigenomic evaluation). The input of the above mentioned nutritional data in a computer supported, individual rotation diet plan (FOOD ALLERGY CONTROL®) ensures a gradual improvement of the symptoms and stabilization of the clinical course during and after therapy.

2015 - Are vitamin C and polyphenols specifically killing cancer cells ?

The present work describes the immunbiological and therapeutic effects of Vitamin C and three different combinations of substituted phenolic compounds acting against hypoxic and normoxic cancer cells through their highly reactive intermediates and emerging reactive oxygen species. The phenolic mixtures in their semiquinone activated forms are known to decrease the hypoxic mediated accumulation of reductive equivalents, to increase the oxygen consumption and to restore the normal redox potentials and functionality in the hypoxic cells. Besides, the antitumour activity of the phenol / quinone containing drugs largely depends on the microsomal NADPH: quinone oxidoreductase activity conferring such compounds an increased tumor selectivity through the overexpressed enzyme in various tumor types. When oxidized to quinones, phenolic compounds are known to strongly accelerate NADPH-oxidation and oxygen consumption in the microsomal system of tumour cells and to form free radicals (superoxide). The ROS generating capability of the phenolic mixture was clearly demonstrated in blood and plasma after oral ingestion by means of a ultraweak chemoluminescence technology. Another free radical generating compound, Vitamin C is also part of a broad-spectrum antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and immune modulating protocol, frequently used in patients with systemic microbial overload, fibromyalgia and malignant tumors. Both the phenolic compounds and Vitamin C are taking advantage on the diminished capability of tumor cells to handle free radicals. Whereas free radicals are quickly scavenged in normoxic (healthy) tissues, hypoxic tumour cells are expressing low levels of ROS protective enzymes like superoxide dismutase, catalase and GSH-peroxidase (GPx). Therefore, a depressed anti-ROS enzymatic equipment renders tumor cells much more sensitive to a free radical attack than normal cells. Finally, the antitumor activity of both Vitamin C and phenolic compounds is significantly potentiated by higher concentrations of transitional heavy metals like Fe, Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni and Hg as measured by us in breast cancer biopsies from the 1st Oncology Department of the Prague Medical School by means of Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The autooxidation of Vitamin C and phenolic compounds in the presence of heavy metals strongly increases the superoxide and H2O2 formation resulting in a fast depletion of tumor cell reducing equivalents with oxidosis shift and apoptosis/necrosis induction. Our clinical results suggest that the use of the above mentioned pro-oxidative compounds devoid of side-effects is particularly promising in the treatment of different malignancies and infections.