Group items tagged

Are statins analogues of vitamin D? Grimes DS. Lancet. 2006 Jul 1;368(9529):83-6. Review. PMID: 16815382 doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68971-X There are many reasons why the dietary-heart-cholesterol hypothesis should be questioned, and why statins might be acting in some other way to reduce the risk of coronary heart disease. Here, I propose that rather than being cholesterol-lowering drugs per se, statins act as vitamin D analogues, and explain why. This proposition is based on published observations that the unexpected and unexplained clinical benefits produced by statins have also been shown to be properties of vitamin D. It seems likely that statins activate vitamin D receptors.

Vitamin D and vitamin D analogues for preventing fractures associated with involutional and post-menopausal osteoporosis. Avenell A, Gillespie WJ, Gillespie LD, O'Connell D. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Apr 15;(2):CD000227. Review. PMID: 19370554 DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000227.pub3 AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Frail older people confined to institutions may sustain fewer hip fractures if given vitamin D with calcium. Vitamin D alone is unlikely to prevent fracture. Overall there is a small but significant increase in gastrointestinal symptoms and renal disease associated with vitamin D or its analogues. Calcitriol is associated with an increased incidence of hypercalcaemia.

Sulbutiamine is a centrally acting cholinergic vitamin B analogue. One study shows sulbutiamine improve memory in rats. At this time I prefer using a combination of several B vitamins rather than relying on one vitamin B analogue. For more information on B vitamins or to purchase Vitamin B Coenzyme. Even better is to take a multivitamin that has a combination of the B vitamins along with a couple of dozen vitamins and nutrients. In most cases I think it is better to take a small amount of a number of different nutrients as opposed to a large amount of just one. Consider a very popular product that I have formulated called MultiVit-Rx.

Vitamin D supplementation. Eveleigh B. Can Fam Physician. 2007 Sep;53(9):1435; author reply 1435. PMID: 17872869 My concern regarding vitamin D2 is that it is a synthetic analogue and might interact with the vitamin D receptor differently in various cell systems. It has been reported that vitamin D3 might improve glycemic control.7 Vitamin D2 has been reported to cause worsening of glycemic control in people of East Indian descent.8 Is this because of vitamin D receptor polymorphism, or because of enhanced 24-hydroxylase enzyme activation, or is it due to how vitamin D2 interacts with the receptor? Until this has been sorted out, I feel safest using vitamin D3. There are about 2000 synthetic analogues of vitamin D. The search is on for one that can cross the blood-brain barrier to treat certain types of brain cancers without causing hypercalcemia.9 But then again, what other effects would this compound have? There are still so many unknowns

Zwart SR, Hargens AR, Smith SM. The ratio of animal protein intake to potassium intake is a predictor of bone resorption in space flight analogues and in ambulatory subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Oct;80(4):1058-65. PMID: 15447920

Does having enough sunlight and vitamin D give us more power to tolerate gluten and not develop damaging self-destructive auto-antibodies? It's unlikely we'll know in any good RCT (randomized controlled trials). No drug company will put up lettuce $$ to determine that good ol' cheap FREE UVB unblocked-sunshine is going to trump their $2-3/day drug (or super-sized vitamin D analogue) in a head-to-head trial. That's just absurd. And they're not stupid... because they pay staticians a lot of lettuce to figure that out for them.

Improved cholecalciferol nutrition in rats is noncalcemic, suppresses parathyroid hormone and increases responsiveness to 1, 25-dihydroxycholecalciferol. Vieth R, Milojevic S, Peltekova V. J Nutr. 2000 Mar;130(3):578-84. PMID: 10702588 We conclude suppression of 1,25(OH)(2)D and PTH, and higher renal VDR mRNA and 24-hydroxylase did not involve higher free 1,25(OH)(2)D concentration or a first pass effect at the gut. Thus, 25(OH)D or a metabolite other than 1,25(OH)(2)D is a physiological, transcriptionally and biochemically active, noncalcemic vitamin D metabolite. When viewed from a perspective that starts with higher vitamin D nutrition, the results indicate that low vitamin D nutrition may bring about a form of resistance to 1,25(OH)2D. This situation would explain why, in humans, nutritional rickets and osteomalacia are commonly associated with normal or increased levels of 1,25(OH)2D (Chesney et al. 1981Citation , Eastwood et al. 1979Citation , Garabedian et al. 1983Citation ,Rasmussen et al. 1980Citation )-these are not like the low hormone levels associated with any other endocrine-deficiency disorder. A connection between lower vitamin D nutrition and vitamin D resistance helps to explain why the supposedly inactive compound 25(OH)D is more relevant in diagnosing nutritional rickets than is the active hormone 1,25(OH)2D. If the features of improved vitamin D nutrition shown here were demonstrated for any newly synthesized compound, the compound would be classified as a noncalcemic 1,25(OH)2D analogue (Brown et al. 1989Citation , Finch et al. 1999Citation , Goff et al. 1993Citation , Koshizuka et al. 1999Citation ). Thus, we contend that 25(OH)D or a metabolite of it other than 1,25(OH)2D exists as a physiological and biologically-active noncalcemic vitamin D metabolite whose effects require further examination, particularly in relationship to studies involving the synthetic analogs of 1,25(OH)2D.

Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble prohormones, the two major forms of which are vitamin D2 (or ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (or cholecalciferol).[1] The term vitamin D also refers to metabolites and other analogues of these substances. Vitamin D3 is produced in skin exposed to sunlight, specifically ultraviolet B radiation.\nVitamin D plays an important role in the maintenance of organ systems

Sulbutiamine (brand name: Arcalion) is a precursor to thiamine (i.e., vitamin B1). As a dimer of two structurally modified thiamine residues, sulbutiamine retains many of the features of thiamine. However, the thiazole rings are open, the alcohol groups are esterified, and a disulfide bridge connects the two thiamine analogues. Sulbutiamine is indicated for the treatment of asthenia.[1] Its ability to reduce fatigue is also considered desirable by athletes, and it is available for over-the-counter sale as a nutritional supplement. In one study of chronic fatigue patients, sulbutiamine did not demonstrate sustained benefits over the placebo, which raises doubts about its clinical efficacy.[2] However, the authors of that study suggest that additional research is needed to evalulate the potential usefulness of sulbutiamine in the treatment of chronic fatigue. Sulbutiamine may be beneficial for cognition. Indeed, the demonstrated ability of sulbutiamine to improve memory in rats[3] and patients of schizophrenia[3] suggests that it is a nootropic. Recent research also shows support for the use of sulbutiamine in the treatment of erectile dysfunction

"Tempeh, or tempe in Indonesian, is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans into a cake form. Tempeh is unique among major traditional soyfoods in that it is the only one that did not originate in China or Japan. It originated in today's Indonesia, and especially popular on the island of Java, where it is a staple source of protein. Like tofu, tempeh is made from soybeans, but tempeh is a whole soybean product with different nutritional characteristics and textural qualities. Tempeh's fermentation process and its retention of the whole bean give it a higher content of protein, dietary fiber, and vitamins compared to tofu, as well as firmer texture and stronger flavor. Because of its nutritional value, tempeh is used worldwide in vegetarian cuisine; some consider it to be a meat analogue. The soy protein in tempeh becomes more digestible as a result of the fermentation process. In particular, the oligosaccharides that are associated with gas and indigestion are greatly reduced by the Rhizopus culture. In traditional tempeh making shops, the starter culture often contains beneficial bacteria that produce vitamins such as B12[1][2] (though it is uncertain whether this B12 is always present and bioavailable[3]). In western countries, it is more common to use a pure culture containing only Rhizopus oligosporus which makes very little B12 and could be missing Klebsiella pneumoniae which has been shown to produce significant levels of B12 analogs in tempeh when present. Whether these analogs are true, bioavailable B12, hasn't been thoroughly studied yet.

"I like palmitic acid. It causes insulin resistance. Thank goodness. Ted sent me this link. It's depressing. I'm going to discuss a thought drug. I'm going to call it Palmitofake, and it can be developed by Pfizer, no, Fort Dodge. I particularly dislike FD for anaesthesia related reasons. So what does Palmitofake do? BTW, if you didn't need any other hint you can tell this drug is going to bomb as there is neither an x, y or z in its name. Trust FD to screw up (in my mind). Palmitofake is a fluoride substituted analogue of palmitic acid which irreversibly binds to the acyl-CoA interaction site of JNK1 and so inhibits the pathway by which palmitic acid keeps GLUT4 transporters off of the cell surface membrane, whole body-wide. The logic to this is that the lipotoxin, palmitic acid (nature's second biggest mistake, the biggest was obviously cholesterol) can no longer keep glucose out of cells and metabolism can run, unimpaired by fat, for ever on glucose. Woo hoo bring on the glucose."

Table of Contents Ch. I Is calcidiol an active hormone? 1 Ch. II Vitamin D as a neurosteroid hormone : from neurobiological effects to behavior 29 Ch. III Inhibitors of vitamin D hydroxylases : mechanistic tools and therapeutic aspects 67 Ch. IV Vitamin D analogues as anti-cancer therapies 145 Ch. V Paricalcitol : a vitamin D2 analog with anticancer effects with low calcemic activity 169 Ch. VI Vitamin D use among older adults in U.S. : results form national surveys 1997 to 2002 181 Ch VII Vitamin D deficiency in migrants 199 Vitamin D is a fat-soluble steroid hormone precursor that contributes to the maintenance of normal levels of calcium and phosphorus in the bloodstream. Strictly speaking, it is not a vitamin since human skin can manufacture it, but it is referred to as one for historical reasons. It is often known as calciferol. The major biologic function of vitamin D is to maintain normal blood levels of calcium and phosphorus. Vitamin D aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. It promotes bone mineralisation in concert with a number of other vitamins, minerals and hormones. Without vitamin D, bones can become thin, brittle, soft or misshapen. Vitamin D prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults -- skeletal diseases that result in defects that weaken bones. This book gathers international research on the leading-edge of the scientific front.