Concepts
- detailed information for the scientific community
NutrienTech LLC is a nutraceutical development company. Nutraceuticals are purified nutrients that are found in our food, which are isolated, purified, and formulated into oral dosage forms. As we age, our health becomes increasingly dependent upon an adequate intake of essential nutrients. Deficiencies of dietary nutrients have become an important contributing factor to the onset and progression of a number of degenerative diseases. Consequently, nutraceuticals have become an important means to assure an adequate intake of the essential nutrients, which are formulated to deliver appropriate concentrations in a vehicle that facilitates their oral bioavailability.
Probably the greatest contribution to our understanding of nutritional needs has come from the search for vitamins. Since the late 19th century, when dietary factors such as ascorbic acid, and the B-complex vitamins became known as the “antidotes” for scurvy, beri-beri, pellagra, rickets, and anemia, the list of vitamins has grown to about 20. Interestingly, although technological developments continue at an exponential rate, the latest vitamin was identified over 50 years ago. During this time, a fundamental shift has occurred, where the focus of research has moved away from seeking cures for diseases.
Over the last 50 years, we also have seen tremendous growth in our understanding of the mechanisms of diseases. With respect to nutrients, some of the most recent discoveries have involved the essential trace nutrients. In particular, the trace nutrient zinc is known to be the essential metal cofactor for over 300 metalloenzymes. Evolution tells us that zinc is the most important metal to be utilized by enzymes, because the zinc metalloenzymes are among the most highly conserved sequences throughout phylogeny, and important zinc metalloenzymes are represented among all six classes of enzymes. These include DNA- and RNA- polymerases, carbonic anhydrases, collagenases (and other matrix metalloproteinases), alcohol dehydrogenase, peptidyl dipeptidase and other “activating” enzymes (ICE, TACE, etc). Zinc is important for maintaining the tertiary structure of the enzyme and also plays a catalytic role at the active site of the enzyme. Zinc metalloenzymes repair important cellular damage, convert inactive molecules to active molecules, facilitate intra- and intercellular signaling, facilitae energy utilization, protect cells from chemical and radiological damage, and eliminate toxins, metabolites, and foreign microorganisms from our bodies. In short, there is no biochemical process in our body that is not touched by zinc in some way.
In addition to its role as a cofactor for metalloenzymes, zinc also displays antioxidant properties. There are two mechanisms by which zinc provides antioxidant protection. Directly, zinc is able to compete with iron or copper in redox-active enzymes. Unlike iron or copper, which facilitate redox reactions by cycling between their two oxidation states, zinc is present in only one oxidation state, and thus, is unable to participate in exectron transfer reactions. By substituting for these redox-active metals, zinc is able to decrease the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that are generated. Indirectly, zinc ions suppress the activity of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), leading to a decrease in the production of nitric oxide, another potentially harmful ROS.
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