CLINICAL UPDATES
from SpectraCell Laboratories, Inc.
August 2009 – Vol. 2009, Issue 08
In This Issue….
- Zinc deficiency causes DNA damage
- High Vitamin K intake reduces heart disease
- CoQ10 helps liver function
- High dose, short term folate may cut blood pressure
- Lp(a) linked to arthritis, blindness and heart disease
CLINICAL UPDATE - Zinc deficiency causes DNA damage
A cell's ability to repair damaged DNA and resist oxidative stress is decreased by zinc deficiency, according to a recent animal study. Once cells were repleted with zinc, however, antioxidant defenses improved and normalized.
(Journal of Nutrition, July 2009)
LINK to ABSTRACT: Zinc Deficiency Affects DNA Damage, Oxidative Stress, Antioxidant Defenses, and DNA Repair in Rats.
CLINICAL UPDATE - High vitamin K intake reduces heart disease
Vitamin K intake of more than 16,000 women aged 49-70 years was assessed. Researchers found that vitamin K2, which is the form synthesized in the intestine by beneficial bacteria, but not vitamin K1, the form found in plants, showed a significant and inverse association with heart disease.
(Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease, September 2009)
LINK to ABSTRACT: A high menaquinone intake reduces the incidence of coronary heart disease.
CLINICAL UPDATE - CoQ10 helps liver function
The antioxidant effects of coenzyme Q10 on lipid peroxidation are well known, but researchers found that the supplement also reduces obesity-related inflammation and oxidative stress in the liver.
(Biochemical Pharmacology, July 2009)
LINK to ABSTRACT: Coenzyme Q10 supplementation lowers hepatic oxidative stress and inflammation associated with diet-induced obesity in mice.
CLINICAL UPDATE - High dose, short term folate may cut blood pressure
Thirty healthy post-menopausal women received either 15mg folate daily or placebo for three weeks. Blood pressure and homocysteine were both reduced in the folate but not placebo group.
(European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, July 2009)
LINK to NEWS SUMMARY:
LINK to ABSTRACT: High-dose, short-term folate administration modifies ambulatory blood pressure in postmenopausal women. A placebo-controlled study.
CLINICAL UPDATE - Lp(a) linked to arthritis, blindness and heart disease
New studies link the dangerous lipoprotein(a) to rheumatoid arthritis and diabetic retinopathy, while a large-scale meta-analysis of over 126,000 participants confirm the association of Lp(a) with coronary heart disease. Research also found that carnitine enhanced the beneficial effects of a statin on Lp(a) levels while fenofibrates increase it.
(Journal of the American Medical Association, July 2009)
(Journal of Rheumatology, July 2009)
(Acta Ophthalmologica, August 2009)
(Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy, August 2009)
(Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, October 2005)
LINK to ABSTRACT: Lipoprotein(a) concentration and the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and nonvascular mortality.
LINK to ABSTRACT: Conventional lipid profile and lipoprotein(a) concentrations in treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
LINK to ABSTRACT: Association between serum lipoprotein(a) level and progression of non-proliferative diabetic reintopathy in Type 2 diabetes.
LINK to ABSTRACT: Effects of simvastatin and carnitine versus simvastatin on lipoprotein(a) and apolipoprotein(a) in type 2 diabetes mellitus.
LINK to ABSTRACT: Effect of fenofibrate on lipoprotein(a) in hypertriglycerideemic patients: impact of change in triglyceride level and liver function.
