Cow urine isn’t all bull: US patent

Numbered 6410059, the patent, titled ‘Pharmaceutical composition containing cow urine distillate and an antibiotic’, came through last week, and lists 16 scientists as co-inventors.

The US Patent Office notes that ‘‘The invention relates to an absolutely novel use of cow urine distillate as activity enhancer and availability facilitator for bioactive molecules including anti-infective and anti-cancer agents. It has direct implication in drastically reducing the dosage of antibiotics, drugs and anti cancer agents while increasing the absorption of bioactive molecules.’’

While cow urine has been used as a traditional remedy for years, its journey into the hallowed portals of scientific research began in 1999, when Joshi asked CSIR to investigate the liquid’s chemical properties.

After spending about Rs 10 lakh over three years, the Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP) at Lucknow—a CSIR body—established that certain compounds in cow urine, when used in a combination with certain antibiotics like the commonly used anti-tuberculosis drug rifampicin, can help kill more bacteria than a single application of the antibiotic.

The CIMAP scientists, led by Dr Suman Preet Khanuja, also found that to get the same amount of the cancer killing potential, they needed much lower quantities of the anti-cancer drug Taxol, when extracts of cow urine were applied in tandem to cancer cell lines in test tubes.

This is the first time the VHP has applied for a US patent, said GVAK secretary Sunil Balkrishna Mansingha, who’s listed as one of the inventors. The collection of urine from pure Indian breeds is the most important step, he says.

Each morning, VHP volunteers stand behind cows with beakers in hand waiting for the ‘‘life saving medicine’’ to dribble down. The Nagpur centre, which, has about 160 cows, collects over a thousand litres in a month.

This gomutra is brewed over a fire at about 50-60 degrees Celsius to obtain a distillate called ‘Kamdhenu Arak’. This distilled liquid, which purports to cure several ailments including renal problems, is sold at Rs 110 per litre.

R A Mashelkar, CSIR director-general, described the patent as a ‘‘great example of collaborative effort’’. Further research on the therapeutic values of cow urine will be taken up on a priority basis, he added. But he cautioned that it could take upto a decade to develop a pharmaceutical product for use by consumers which has been thoroughly tested both in animal and humans.

Murli Manohar Joshi couldn’t contain his excitement. ‘‘When I was young and went to Chennai on an educational tour, I saw people drinking cow’s urine straight from the source. Everybody thought it was dirty. Today, I realise that all traditional practices from ancient Indian medicine have a strong scientific base,’’ he beamed.