Vitamin K2 Potentially Offers Hope For A New Treatment For Parkinson's Disease
14 May 2012
Neuroscientist Patrik Verstreken, associated with VIB and KU Leuven, succeeded in undoing the effect of one of the genetic defects that leads to Parkinson's using vitamin K2. His discovery gives hope to Parkinson's patients. This research was done in collaboration with colleagues from Northern Illinois University (US) and will be published this evening on the website of the authorative journal Science.
"It appears from our research that administering vitamin K2 could possibly help patients with Parkinson's. However, more work needs to be done to understand this better," says Patrik Verstreken.
Malfunctioning power plants are at the basis of Parkinson's
If we looked at cells as small factories, then mitochondria would be the power plants responsible for supplying the energy for their operation. They generate this energy by transporting electrons. In Parkinson's patients, the activity of mitochondria and the transport of electrons have been disrupted, resulting in the mitochondria no longer producing sufficient energy for the cell. This has major consequences as the cells in certain parts of the brain will start dying off, disrupting communication between neurons. The results are the typical symptoms of Parkinson's: lack of movement (akinesia), tremors and muscle stiffness.
The exact cause of this neurodegenerative disease is not known. In recent years, however, scientists have been able to describe several genetic defects (mutations) found in Parkinson's patients, including the so-called PINK1 and Parkin mutations, which both lead to reduced mitochondrial activity. By studying these mutations, scientists hope to unravel the mechanisms underlying the disease process.
Paralyzed fruit flies
Fruit flies (Drosophila) are frequently used in lab experiments because of their short life spans and breeding cycles, among other things. Within two weeks of her emergence, every female is able to produce hundreds of offspring. By genetically modifying fruitflies, scientists can study the function of certain genes and proteins. Patrik Verstreken and his team used fruitflies with a genetic defect in PINK1 or Parkin that is similar to the one associated with Parkinson's. They found that the flies with a PINK1 or Parkin mutation lost their ability to fly.
Upon closer examination, they discovered that the mitochondria in these flies were defective, just as in Parkinson's patients. Because of this they generated less intracellular energy - energy the insects needed to fly. When the flies were given vitamin K2, the energy production in their mitochondria was restored and the insects' ability to fly improved. The researchers were also able to determine that the energy production was restored because the vitamin K2 had improved electron transport in the mitochondria. This in turn led to improved energy production.
Conclusion
Vitamin K2 plays a role in the energy production of defective mitochondria. Because defective mitochondria are also found in Parkinson's patients with a PINK1 or Parkin mutation, vitamin K2 potentially offers hope for a new treatment for Parkinson's
References:
VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology
Written by
Danny2401
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I think we should not jump every time a researcher at a university has a positive outcome with fruit flies, mice, rats, etc. Many things affect small creatures that do not affect humans.
Did you ever notice how there are 134 or more research projects with funding to reverse the symptoms of Parkinson's, but not one single project is happening to determine what causes Parkinson's? How can you fix something if you do not know what is broken? Researchers have been working on Parkinson's for almost 200 years. All we can do is support research, exercise, take either Azilect or Selegiline to slow the progression of Parkinson's, eat healthy, and attempt to live as good a quality of life as we can until the day comes where we no longer have to worry about what to do next.
Weston A Price is big into Vitamin K2. Here is a link and in the first few paragraphs they mention which foods it can be found in. I give it to my son as a supplement.
Hi Bunngalo, Thank you very much, Weston A Price, a real gentleman, I have had a great night looking over his Site, the site could be better, but I loved it anyway. I'm on a diet of real food, butter I love. gotta go I'm hungery.
Table from "Important information to know when you are taking: Warfarin (Coumadin) and Vitamin K", Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health Drug Nutrient Interaction Task Force.[3]
Vitamin K1 is found chiefly in leafy green vegetables such as dandelion greens (which contain 778.4 µg per 100 g, or 741% of the recommended daily amount), spinach, swiss chard, and Brassica (e.g. cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, and brussels sprouts); some fruits, such as avocado, kiwifruit and grapes, are also high in vitamin K. By way of reference, two tablespoons of parsley contain 153% of the recommended daily amount of vitamin K.[57] Some vegetable oils, notably soybean, contain vitamin K, but at levels that would require relatively large calorific consumption to meet the USDA-recommended levels.[58] Colonic bacteria synthesize a significant portion of humans' vitamin K needs; newborns often receive a vitamin K shot at birth to tide them over until their colons become colonized at five to seven days of age.
Phylloquinone's tight binding to thylakoid membranes in chloroplasts makes it less bioavailable. For example, cooked spinach has a 5% bioavailability of phylloquinone. However, fat added to it increases bioavailability to 13% due to the increased solubility of vitamin K in fat.[59]
Vitamin K2 (menaquinone-4) is synthesized by animal tissues and is found in meat, eggs, and dairy products.[60] Menaquinone-7 is synthesized by bacteria during fermentation and is found in fermented soybeans (natto).[61] In natto, none of the vitamin K is from menaquinone-4, and in cheese only 2–7% is.[62]
Hi, Thank you, i have been up alnight, reading about THe Synergy of Vitamins K2 and A and D I have tried copy and paste but its a bit of a mess, I have an open mind, but like life we all see things the way we want to, so if you follow the link for K2, you might get a we surprize?
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