Supplementation may induce gamma-interferon production leading to augmented natural killer cell activity and macrophage activation (Aso H et al. Induction of interferon and activation of NK cells and macrophages in mice by oral administration of Ge-132, an organic germanium compound. Microbiol Immunol 29(l):65-74, 1985).

Supplementation may improve impaired immune responses due to aging (Mizushima Y et al. Restoration of impaired immunoresponse by germanium in mice. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol 63:338-39. 1980).

Bis-carboxyethyl germanium sesquioxide (Ge-132) may stimulate gamma-interferon production (Kidd PM. Germanium-132 (Ge-132): Homeostatic normalizer and immunostimulant. A Review of its preventive and therapeutic efficacy. Int Clin Nutr Rev 7(1):11-20. 1987.
Administration of bis-carboxyethyl germanium sesquioxide (Ge-132) may be beneficial.
Clinical Observations: Clinicians report that between 20% and over 50% of their pts. given Ge-132 150-500 mg/d note substantial to marked symptom relief (Faloona GR. Levine SA. The use of organic germanium in chronic Epstein-Barr Virus Syndrome (CEBVS): An example of interferon modulation of herpes reactivation, J. Orthomol Med 3(1):29-31,1988.  

Administration of germanium sesquioxide may be beneficial.
Experimental Placebo-controlled Study: 20 Mexican volunteers with AIDS were given germanium or placebo together with standard treatment. After 18 mo., the health of 80% of the germanium gp. improved (Germanium. Artsenkrant Belgium 20:397.1988). 

Conference Report: Organic germanium is one of the six medications recommended for intensive clinical testing on AIDS pts. It is considered to be somewhat effective for those who are infected with AIDS for the purpose of preventing them from falling into CDC gps. 3 or 4 and has been found to have a low toxicity (Report from the International AIDS Treatment Conference, Tokyo, Japan. February 13-14, 1987).

An organic germanium compound formed by Hie hydrolysis of trihalogenopropionic acid, followed by the addition of trihalogenogermane to acrylic acid.Administration may inhibit tumor growth. 

Experimental Double-blind Study: Pts. with unresectable lung cancer received either chemotherapy plus Ge-132 or chemotherapy plus placebo. After 3 mo., the proportion of partial and complete responses in stage IV pts. was significantly higher in the Ge-132-treated patients. Although their survival also tended to be longer, the difference was not significant (Mizushima M et al. Some pharmacological and clinical aspects of a novel organic germanium compound Ge-132, in Kelim & Samochewiec. Eds. 1st Int Conf on Germanium. Hanover. Germany. Oct. 1984. Semmelweis-Verlag. 1985). 

Experimental Study: Following oral administration of Ge-132 1000 mg/d for 10 days, natural killer cell activity in 18 cancer pts. was augmented at 3 days, but depressed at 10 days in all patients. In intermittent oral administration, however, more than half of the pts. with augmented NK activity at day 3 maintained the high activity level at day 10 (Tanaka et al Augmentation of NK activity in peripheral blood lymphocytes of cancer patients by intermittent Ge-132 administration.] Gan To Kagaku Ryhoho 11(6):1303-6, 1984.  

Germanium sesquioxide: May enhance morphine analgesia. 

Animal Experimental Study: As measured by the Tail-Flick test, Ge-132 enhanced morphine analgesia both following oral and intraperitoneal injection. The effect was completely abolished by Naloxone. Ge-132 alone intraperitoneally failed to show any antinociceptive action (Hachisu M et al. Analgesic effect of novel organogermanium compound. Ge-32. J Pharmacobiodyn 6(11):814-20,. 1983

Administration of carboxyethyl germanium sesquioxide (Ge-132) may be beneficial. 

Experimental Study: After 12 mo., the bone mass of controls tended to decrease, while the bone mass of pts. receiving Ge-132 demonstrated a slight increase. Significant differences began to be noted 1-3 mo. after initiating treatment. Administration of Ge-132 was associated with a significant decrease in parathyroid hormone levels, and these levels are known to be negatively correlated with bone mass (Mizushima M et al. Some pharmacological and clinical aspects of a novel organic germanium compound Ge-132, in Lekim & Samochowiec, Eds. 1st Int Conf on Germanium. Semmelweiss-Verlag, 1985.

Long-term ingestion of germanium dioxide may be nephrotoxic.