Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine

Despite the fact that we can produce it, CoQ10 becomes more vitamin-­like as we age because we produce less and less with advancing age (with the body slowing its production starting in our late twenties or early thirties). Many believe this is by design, because by our late twenties, our prime reproductive years are behind us, and as we raise our children to take our spot on this finite planet, reduction of CoQ10 is Nature’s way of preparing us for our eventual exit. Considering how important mitochondria and oxidative phosphorylation are to our health and longevity, by reducing the production of this one molecule, the body can start winding things down to make room and free up resources for the next generation

Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is an antioxidant, a membrane stabilizer, and a vital component in the mitochondrial ETC. It also regulates gene expression and apoptosis; is an essential cofactor of uncoupling proteins and permeability transition pores; and has anti-­inflammatory, redox modulatory, and neuroprotective effects.

CoQ10 is a vitamin-like molecule that is naturally present in just about every single cell in our body. Like vitamins, it is absolutely essential to life. However, since our bodies produce CoQ10, it’s not technically a vitamin. In order to produce CoQ10, the cell needs an amino acid called tyrosine, at least eight different vitamins, and several trace minerals. A deficiency of any of these impairs the cells’ ability to produce CoQ10

Dark Chocolate

Table 3.2 shows the high content of PQQ in cocoa powder. Perhaps this is one reason for the many health benefits associated with chocolate consumption. Of course, there are plenty of other health-giving compounds in chocolate (such as flavonols, theobromine, and epicatechin), but we should definitely not discount the high concentration of PQQ

They had discovered direct molecular evidence that PQQ was in fact a previously unidentified B vitamin. A vitamin, by definition, is a compound that human bodies can’t make (we must get it from dietary sources) and is an absolute necessity to carry out at least one essential biochemical function

From an evolutionary perspective, current evidence suggests PQQ is a component of interstellar dust, and since it’s been postulated that strong redox catalysts were required to trigger the earliest chemical evolutionary steps, the extraterrestrial origin of PQQ raises the question of its evolutionary importance to simpler life forms. This theory is especially interesting when you consider PQQ’s wide range of chemical properties, such as a redox catalyst and the ability to modify amino acids (e.g., oxidative deamination reactions). Could PQQ be our common point of origin with life in other areas of the galaxy?

For healthy people and athletes, a dose taken before exercise helps the cell with the process of purine salvage as purines are broken down. A dose after exercise helps speed the de novo process to aid recovery. For people with a chronic health condition, an adequate dose will usually result in symptom improvement, typically within a few days. If a standard dose doesn’t help, increase the dose until an effect is noticed (e.g., relief of symptoms). D-ribose is safe even at large doses, and many clinical trials have studied amounts ranging from 10 to 15 grams per day, with one study of McArdles’s disease using 60 grams per day! If you think this is an extremely high load of sugar, note that D-ribose doesn’t impact blood glucose or insulin levels like glucose does. It’s completely safe for diabetics, even at these high doses

Without supplemental D-ribose, the heart is forced to create it from glucose (again, through the pentose phosphate pathway). However, the problem is that under ischemic conditions when oxygen is in short supply, the mitochondria cannot produce ATP through oxidative phosphorylation, and the cell must rely more heavily on anaerobic metabolism or glycolysis, which uses glucose. Glycolysis is great because it’s fast, but the process needs a constant supply of glucose to ensure quick energy turnover. The downside of this is that the cell does not want to sacrifice or donate any glucose to the pentose phosphate pathway to produce D-ribose, making recovery in the absence of surgical or nutritional intervention highly unlikely. When supplemental D-ribose is given, the energy pool and diastolic function can return to normal within one or two days!

Due, in part, to reduced oxygen levels and resulting loss of mitochondria (there is no need for mitochondria if there is no oxygen), the heart shifts energy metabolism to the less efficient pathway of glycolysis. Not only does this result in lactic acid buildup, but with reduced energy efficiency, there is a progressive loss in contractility. The heart tries to compensate by enlarging its size, and this in turn worsens the ejection fraction and diastolic function, which in turn further deprives the heart of oxygenated blood. It’s a vicious cycle that continues unless nutritional intervention takes place

Once in the cells, D-ribose is used by the body to synthesize and salvage the energy pool, to produce RNA and DNA, and to manufacture other critical molecules used by the cell. Of all the naturally occurring sugars found in nature, D-ribose is the only sugar that functions in these essential metabolic processes.

Athletic heart syndrome, also known as athlete’s heart or athletic bradycardia, is a condition commonly seen in sports medicine, in which the human heart is enlarged, and the resting heart rate is lower than normal. It is caused by significant amounts of aerobic exercise performed over a period of at least several months.

Athlete’s heart is common in athletes who routinely exercise more than an hour a day, and occurs primarily in endurance athletes, though it can occasionally arise in heavy weight trainers. While the condition is generally believed to be benign, it might sometimes be hard to distinguish from other serious medical conditions, and it has caused the sudden cardiac death of many highly trained and seemingly healthy athletes.