An article published early online on June 3, 2008 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reports the prediction of Jasper Rine and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley that soon-to-be-available personalized genome sequencing will uncover minor genetic flaws that can easily be corrected with nutrition, enabling people to personalize their supplement routine.

“Headlines for the last 20 years have really been about the triumph of biomedical research in finding disease genes, which is biologically interesting, genetically important and frightening to people who get this information,” Dr Rine. “I became obsessed with trying to decide if there is some other class of information that will make people want to look at their genome sequence.”

Variations in genes responsible for the production of enzymes involved in metabolism affect the efficiency of these enzymes. While having two copies of a defective gene can result in one of many rare metabolic diseases that can be treated with vitamin supplements, many individuals have only one copy, or have two copies of only slightly defective genes, whose subtle effects on enzymes, Dr Rine’s team found, could also be remedied by vitamin supplementation. The current study examined one human enzyme, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), which requires the B vitamin folate to function properly. The enzyme plays a role in DNA nucleotide synthesis. Among 564 individuals, 3 common variants and 11 minor, uncommon genetic variants of MTHFR were found. When these gene variants were synthesized and inserted into yeast cells, the most common variant and 4 of the uncommon variants were found to affect the enzyme’s function, yet supplementation of the yeast with folate restored full functionality to all but one of these. Continue Reading

Homocysteine reduction

Management of hyperhomocysteinemia begins with folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12. To varying degrees, folic acid and vitamin B12 increase the remethylation of homocysteine back into SAMe. Vitamin B6 is necessary for the conversion of homocysteine into glutathione along the transsulfuration pathway. Continue Reading

Events: The Prostate Cancer Conference 2008

September 6-7, 2008

The Prostate Cancer Conference 2008 is the 10th major conference devoted to prostate cancer, planned and/or produced by members of The Prostate Cancer Research Institute. As in the past, this conference will provide insight for patients, caregivers and medical professionals. The conference faculty is composed of physicians and scientists who are experts in prostate cancer.

http://www.prostate-cancer.org/events/conf2008/index.html

Life Extension Update

• Fathers-to-be need folate too
• Meta-analysis justifies the use of folic acid to reduce heart disease and strokes

What’s Hot

• Activity of enzyme associated with high HDL related to increase in antioxidant vitamins
• Low B vitamin levels linked with cervical dysplasia

Life Extension magazine

• Mainstream doctors still confused about homocysteine
• Elevated homocysteine raises risk of stroke, dementia: protecting your brain and heart through folic acid and B vitamin supplementation

If you have questions or comments concerning this issue or past issues of Life Extension Update, send them to ddye@lifeextension.com or call 954 202 7716.

For longer life,

Dayna Dye
Editor, Life Extension Update
ddye@lifeextension.com
954 766 8433 extension 7716
www.lef.org