Changes in Water Properties in Human Tissue after Double Filtration Plasmapheresis—A Case Study

Abstract

Double-filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) is a blood cleaning technique that enables the removal of unwanted substances from the blood. In our case study, we performed near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy measurements on the human hand tissue before and after a specific DFPP treatment (INUSpheresis with a TKM58 filter), along with NIR measurements of the substances extracted via DFPP (eluate). The spectral data were analyzed using the aquaphotomics approach. The analysis showed that the water properties in the tissue change after DFPP treatment, i.e., an increase in small water clusters, free water molecules and a decrease in hydroxylated water as well as superoxide in hydration shells was noted. The opposite effect was observed in the eluates of both DFPP treatments. Our study is the first that documents changes in water spectral properties after DFPP treatments in human tissue. The changes in tissue water demonstrated by our case study suggest that the positive physiological effects of DFPP in general, and of INUSpheresis with the TKM58 filter in particular, may be associated with improvements in water quality in blood and tissues.

Aquaphotomics—Exploring Water Molecular Systems in Nature

“…Out of the 21 published articles, 3 were reviews [ 2 , 3 , 4 ] and 18 were original research papers [ 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ], that can be roughly separated into 6 categories ( Figure 3 ).…”

“…This is exactly something that can be said about the category of material science [ 7 , 16 ], a relatively new area where aquaphotomics is slowly starting to make progress. The last two categories, cell biology [ 3 , 20 ] and diagnostics and therapy [ 11 , 19 ], do not feature many research papers because of the difficulty of conducting research with living systems. However, these two categories, and perhaps life science in general, still represent an important direction of growth that holds the strongest potential for making an impact and lasting change in our world, by transforming the current practices and offering non-destructive, real-time monitoring and early diagnostics that hopefully one day will be replaced with prevention.…”

“…Another interesting aspect of the original research articles is the measurement methods the researchers employed ( Figure 4 ). Contrary to expectations that this would be the major portion, only four of the original research papers reported results obtained by using near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in the area of the first overtone of water (1300–1600 nm) [ 5 , 6 , 19 , 22 ].…”

“…In a very interesting case study, Scholkmann and Tsenkova [ 19 ] used aquaphotomics NIR spectroscopy as a tool to monitor the effects of a blood cleaning treatment called double-filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP). The analysis of the spectra acquired from a hand of one subject subjected to DFFP treatment showed that the water properties in the tissue changed after the treatment, characterized by an increase in small water clusters, free water molecules, and a decrease in hydroxylated water and superoxides.…”