Melanin: Negative Reports

In AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #139, November 22, 1991, we reported about
soluble melanins, a class of chemicals which showed anti- HIV activity
in laboratory studies. We included several strikingly positive
anecdotal reports from people who had tried the melanin, which is easy
to synthesize in a chemical laboratory. Since that article, and an
update in AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #141, which included one negative report,
we have received only five new reports of melanin use. All of them,
however, have been negative, that the treatment seemed to do nothing.
(There has been no report of side effects, except from one person who
stopped taking melanin because he thought it might be causing his
peripheral neuropathy to get worse.)
Some of the early positive reports continue to be positive.
However, the person who was near death before starting melanin and had a
notable recovery while on the treatment has since died. Apparently he
discontinued the melanin after being advised to avoid unproven
treatments; without more information, therefore, we cannot be sure that
the death represents a treatment failure.
Why would this treatment appear to work so well in some cases but
not at all in others? No one knows, but there are at least four
theories. One, from the chemist who first tried the treatment on
himself, is that it seems to work best in people with HIV-related
illness but no opportunistic infection. (If so, this pattern would fit
with the theoretical picture that melanin may block gp120 or other toxic
substance produced by HIV-infected cells.)
Another theory is that melanin may be poorly absorbed from the
digestive system, but absorbed better by some people than by others.
The third theory is that different batches of melanins may not be
the same -- with some being effective and some not. Melanins are
endlessly variable, and in fact have never been fully characterized
chemically. Since the exact chemical structure is unknown, it might not
be possible to assure that different batches are identical. (One of the
reports of failure was with melanin that the user made himself.)
Another possibility, of course, is that the treatment does not work
at all, that the early reports of improvement were due to coincidence.
We still consider soluble melanins an important treatment
possibility which deserves to be properly tested -- especially since
there are few promising treatments at this time. But it is now clear
that it will be harder to tell if melanin can be useful than had
appeared to be the case after the early, positive results, when
everybody who had tried the treatment reported dramatic improvement
within days.
Suggestion: A Low-Cost Study
A rapid and low-cost way to investigate melanin further would be
for a physician or other qualified medical professional to examine the
medical records of the persons who have tried this treatment, examine
the patients, and collect samples of the melanin for chemical study. In
our reporting we have only taken the information volunteered, and not
asked for medical details because we are not trained to take a medical
history. What is needed is for someone who examines HIV patients every
workday to try to find any pattern in the divergent results seen so far.
If any credible project is organized to do this, we will call all our
sources for these reports, and urge that they contact the project and
cooperate with it.