Our Backstory

Allium Vitalis Incorporated (AVI) is a Life Sciences research company that was founded in 2003 with the purpose of developing nutrition-based treatments for improving health and vitality. The company uses a cross-discipline, engineering style approach to study in depth various diseases and conditions, continuously searching for under-appreciated facts (“dark knowledge”) that can be utilized to understand and solve biological problems.

AVI relies heavily on the peer-reviewed scientific literature, having done thousands of PubMed searches and retrieved over 10,000 papers. The assumption is that most of what we need to know is already published somewhere. However, AVI also does experiments itself and uses other companies as necessary (e.g., Plant Bioactive Research, Avomeen Analytical Services, LabCorp, and Viola Vitalis AB).

In addition to looking for knowledge, AVI looks for gaps in knowledge. For example, it has been known for thousands of years that garlic and onions have antibiotic properties. In modern times they were studied by Pasteur, and more recently (1947) the active molecule from garlic (“allicin”) was discovered and patented by Cavallito. But no one knew how allicin works in vivo, because it completely disappears from the body when consumed.

The primary metabolite of allicin is an antioxidant molecule (“AllylSH”), with no antibiotic activity. We suspected that during an infection, the immune system could oxidize this antioxidant, producing allicin precisely when and where it is needed. As work-for-hire, Plant Bioactives Research experimentally confirmed this hypothesis, resulting in AVI patent US8222299, claiming various antibacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-viral organosulfur compositions and their use.

Garlic and onions also have various anti-aging properties, but the mechanisms are largely unknown. AVI suspected that the AllylSH antioxidant molecule was involved. Cells all have active antioxidant systems that rely on energy metabolism to drive antioxidant enzymes inside each cell, which prevents the interior of the cell from becoming oxidized. However, outside the cells the extracellular environment becomes progressively more oxidized with age (this can be easily measured by a common blood test).

A literature search revealed the little-known fact that red blood cells emit Vitamin C molecules that serve as an extracellular antioxidant. These red blood cells also take up oxidized Vitamin C and convert it to unoxidized Vitamin C within the cell. This “recycling” Vitamin C is a major antioxidant in the blood. Because AllylSH can freely diffuse through cell membranes and oxidized AllylSH can also diffuse into the cell, AllylSH should also perform well as a recycling extracellular. As work-for-hire, Plant Bioactives Research was able to experimentally confirm this, as were blood tests performed by LabCorp, resulting in AVI patent US8217084, claiming various antioxidant and antiaging uses of various organosulfur compositions.

The amino acid “cysteine” easily becomes oxidized in the blood, which prevents most types of cells from taking up the cysteine that they need. The extracellular antioxidant AllylSH can convert the oxidized cysteine to un-oxidized cysteine, allowing cells to not become “cysteine starved”. As work-for-hire, Plant Bioactives Research was able to experimentally confirm this, as were blood tests performed by LabCorp, resulting in AVI patent US7678833.

Because cells require cysteine to detoxify heavy metals (e.g. arsenic, lead, cadmium,…), AVI suspected that the arsenic poisoning disaster in Bangladesh could be alleviated by this treatment. This was confirmed by Viola Vitalis in a small-scale clinical trial. This treatment is now endorsed by the World Health Organization and by the government of Bangladesh as the only effective treatment for chronic arsenic poisoning. A short, 5 minute, documentary video about this is at vimeo.com/221538264

In addition to oral administration (e.g. by dietary supplements or nutraceutical foods), these organosulfur treatments can be administered in a skin lotion. AVI expected this skin lotion to have various anti-inflammatory and anti-aging properties, including anti-arsenicosis benefit. This was confirmed by various human testers and by Viola Vitalis, resulting in AVI patent US9226885.

While researching various other diseases and conditions, AVI discovered a little-known paper on “transglycation.” This shows that the amino acid cysteine can protect proteins from glycation, thereby eliminating most of the toxicity of diabetes. In addition to increasing the bioavailability of cysteine, AVI realized that the AllylSH molecule itself can perform transglycation, and would thereby protect proteins from glycation. This is taught by (and claimed in) AVI patent US7678833.

There is extensive literature on “Advanced Glycation Endproducts” (“AGEs”), which are aggregates of cross-linked proteins that form as products of glycation (either from glucose itself or from other “aldehyde” molecules). AGEs are typically brown in color and can be seen as brown spots in the skin of elderly people. AGE protein aggregates are pro-inflammatory and are especially toxic in the brain. By protecting proteins from glycation, AllylSH also prevents the formation of AGEs, thereby decreasing neuroinflammation. This is taught and claimed in AVI patents US9456999, US9562007, US10118891, and US10258581.

In addition to the eight patents listed above, another two are unrelated to aldehydes, and several more applications are in the works. These are the result of working in “stealth mode” for the past 15 years.