Spirulina & Amino Acids
Liver Function and SAMe
International Medical Veritas Association
Mark Sircus Ac., OMD

 

      According to Dr. David Minkoff the liver needs amino acids for detoxification. With fasting and in detoxification in general the toxin dump, from metabolized fat where they are stored, can be enormous. Where is the body going to get the amino acids if it is not richly supplied? It is going to destroy its immune proteins and albumin and muscle proteins if it cannot get them from ongoing nutrition. Unfortunately, the body cannot store amino acids in anticipation of deficient ones eventually arriving in subsequent meals. To synthesize protein for the body's repair, maintenance and detoxification, all dietary protein factors must be present simultaneously or the amino acids are wasted. Furthermore, even if complete protein is consumed, digestive difficulties can prevent assimilation of all needed elements. Spirulina provides all the required amino acids, and in a form that is five times easier to digest than meat or soy protein.

            

These eight essential amino acids are found in Spirulina:

• ISOLEUCINE (4.130/o): Required for optimal growth, intelligence development and nitrogen equilibrium in the body Used to synthesize other non-essential amino acids.
• LEUCINE (5.8001o): Stimulator of brain function, increases muscular energy levels.
• LYSINE (4.000/o): Building block of blood antibodies, strengthens circulatory system and maintains normal growth of cells.
• METHIONINE (2.170/o): Vital lipotropic (fat and lipid metabolizing) amino acid that maintains liver health. An anti-stress factor, it calms the nerves. Vital for production of SAMe and important in glutathione production. Also vital for the syntesis of Taurine which is derived from methionine and cysteine metabolism.
• PHENYLALANINE (3.950/o): Required by the thyroid gland for production of thyroxine which stimulates metabolic rate.
• THREONINE (4.170/o): Improves intestinal competence and digestive assimilation.
• TRYPTOPHANE (1.1301o): Increases utilization of B vitamins,improves nerve health and stability of the emotions. Promotes sense of calm.
• VALINE (6.0001o): Stimulates mental capacity and muscle coordination.

    Spirulina supplies ten of the twelve non-essential amino acids. "Non-essential" does not mean that these amino acids are not needed by the body, but merely indicates that the body can synthesize them itself if it needs to do so, provided the appropriate nutritional building blocks are available. Nevertheless, the body is better served if these protein components are readily and totally available in dietary sources, since all the amino acids must be on hand as the cells manufacture enzymes, proteins, hormones, brain chemicals and the other products of metabolism. Of the thousands of biochemical substances acting and interacting in the human body, not one is derived from a vacuum; the body is ultimately dependent upon nutrient intake for all of its functions.

These are the non-essential amino acids supplied by Spirulina:

• ALANINE (5.820/o): Strengthens cellular walls.
• ARGININE (5.98%): Important to male sexual health as seminal fluid is 80 percent arginine. Also helps detoxify the blood.
• ASPARTIC ACID (6.340/o): Aids transformation of carbohydrates into cellular energy.
• CYSTINE (0.670/o): Aids pancreatic health, which stabilizes blood sugar and carbohydrate metabolism. Has been used to alleviate some symptoms of food allergy and intolerance. Important in glutathione production.
• GLUTAMIC ACID (8.940/o): With glucose, one of the principal fuels for the brain cells. Has been used to reduce the craving for alcohol and stabilize mental health. Important in glutathione production.
• GLYCINE (3.5%): Promotes energy and oxygen use in the cells. Important in glutathione production.
• HISTIDINE (1.08%): Strengthens nerve relays, especially in the auditory organs. Has been used to reverse some cases of deafness.
• PROLINE (2.970/o): A precursor of glutamic acid.
• SERINE (4.00%): Helps form the protective fatty sheaths surrounding nerve fibers.
• TYROSINE (4.60%): Slows aging of cells and suppresses hunger centers in the hypothalamus. Can be synthesized from phenylalanine. Involved in proper coloration of hair and skin, including protection from sunburn.

 

Gutathione (glu't?-thi'on') is a polypeptide,
C₁₀H₁₇N₃O₆S, of glycine, cysteine, and glutamic acid. 

     Spirulina is effective in raising glutathione levels because it supplies glutamic acid, glycine, cystine, and methionine in easily absorbable forms. Cysteine and cystine are closely related. One cystine molecule is composed of two bonded cysteine molecules and each can convert to the other as required. Both amino acids contain sulfur (via free sulfhydryl groups) which makes them powerful antioxidants. The free amino acid cysteine does not represent an ideal delivery system to the cell. It is potentially toxic and is spontaneously catabolized in the gastrointestinal tract and blood plasma. Cysteine absorbed during digestion as cystine (two cysteine molecules linked by a disulfide bond) in the gastrointestinal tract is more stable than the free amino acid cysteine. The disulfide bond is pepsin and trypsin-resistant, but may be split by heat, low pH, and mechanical stress. Cystine travels safely through the GI tract and blood plasma and is promptly reduced to the two cysteine molecules upon cell entry.

                                                                                 

  The acetylated form of cysteine is N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and contains a bonded acetyl group. In this form, NAC is more easily absorbed, more stable, and safer to use than cysteine on its own, which can be neurotoxic in very high doses. NAC is effective at promoting glutathione synthesis and can be used to super charge the effect of spirulina. Some studies have shown that supplementing with NAC yields higher glutathione levels than supplementing with cysteine or glutathione directly so when taken with spirulina we can expect to see dramatic results.  

The sulfur for cysteine synthesis comes
from the essential amino acid methionine.

     Glutathione is a central and key factor in detoxification and chelation and will be dealt with fully in a separate chapter. It is very important to know that exogenous glutathione can protect against mercury-induced renal injury.[i] The mechanism of protection by glutathione and cysteine seem to involve decreased uptake of inorganic mercury across the luminal membrane of the kidneys and subsequent accumulation. Other researchers have confirmed this in animal experiments finding that administered glutathione reduced both renal cortical accumulation of inorganic mercury and the severity of mercury-induced renal injury.[ii] [iii] Since glutathione provides concentration-dependent protection from mercury-induced cytotoxicity it is essential when chelating. When mercury is mobilized for excretion by chelators glutathione will help protect all systems from undo harm. In reality glutathione belongs at the center of all treatment of chronic disease and certainly is crucial to all detoxification and chelation protocols.

 

Glutathione is 50 percent as effective as the chelating agent DMSA
in preventing inorganic mercury accumulation in renal cells.[iv]

 

Glutathione

 

Sensitivity to Thimerosal was directly proportional
 to the basal intracellular glutathione concentration. [v]
                                                                                        Costa et al 2004

     Autistic children's inability to combat oxidative damage, because of their low glutathione levels, leads to many health problems, with a leaky gut being high on the list. Glutathione is vital to proper functioning of the intestines. Deficits in glutathione cause degeneration of the jejunum and colon (Martensson 1990). Research suggests that oral administration of glutathione protects intestines against toxicity associated with inflammatory diseases, oxidative damage, and other toxins (Martensson 1990). Laboratory studies have also demonstrated that treatment with glutathione precursors can protect the gut from different types of free-radical-mediated injury (Jefferies 2003). In these leaky gut disorders undigested proteins pass through the gut and cause oxidative damage to the brain and nervous system (White 2003). One of the reasons that some children show dramatic improvements on milk and wheat free diets is that this protein infiltration is greatly reduced. Some children are just naturally allergic to milk products and others cannot handle it just because of their gut problems which lead to enzyme deficiency. Increasing glutathione levels in the intestines, while cleaning them with clay, will bring positive results.

Ginger's antitumor protection is its modification to the carcinogen-metabolizing
enzymes in the liver. Both glutathione S-transferase and aryl hydrocarbon
hydroxylase activity in the liver were elevated following
administration of ginger oil to mice for 14 consecutive days.[vi]

                                                                                                                  Dr. Antoine Al-Achi

    Cysteine, cystine, and NAC possess powerful antioxidant properties and work best when taken in combination with selenium and vitamin E. They promote liver detoxification by binding toxins and heavy metals such as mercury and lead and facilitating their removal from the body. These amino acids also reduce free radical damage and, in combination with their "liver repair" services, are important for detoxification and chelation. If NAC can help prevent side effects associated with chemotherapy and radiation therapy it certainly shows how spirulina and NAC used together would be helpful not only during chelation but also would prevent cancer by reducing the number of chemical adducts that cancer-causing compounds use to attach to DNA and cause damage. Alpha-Lipoic Acid of course is a very powerful agent in this regard as well which can be used as a stand alone chelator because of its power as a chelator and also as a agent that stimulates glutathione production. Actually, as Dr. Andrew Cutler Hall reminds us, “ALA itself is not an active chelator - it is metabolized in the body to dihydroALA which is the active chelator. It doesn't chelate anything until it gets inside the cells then the mitochondria where it is metabolically activated.”

Glutathione Agents

 

Spirulina, Selenium, Vitamin C, s-adenosylmethionine (SAMe),
N acetyl cysteine (NAC) and Alpha lipoic acid (ALA).

     Intake of ascorbate acid helps conserve GSH and SAMe is required in the manufacture of all sulfur-containing compounds in the human body including glutathione. ALA and NAC are both effective in raising glutathione levels. Glutathione itself can be administered, when the need is dire, either transdermally or sprayed directly in the lungs as an aerosol. Spirulina, as medicinal food, holds down the entire nutritional foundation for all the biochemical processes in the body and facilitates crucial processes like glutathione formation with all its protective assets. We cannot live on detoxification supplements and chelation agents alone, which are more dangerous in the face of malnutrition.

Animals given sodium fluoride in drinking water
showed that fluoride in public water supplies can significantly
 reduce the activity of glutathione peroxidase.[vii]

 

     A clear understanding of the interrelationships among tissue glutathione, nutrition, and oxidative stress is clinically relevant. Glutathione concentrations are sensitive to diet and nutritional status and applying this information gives a big return when navigating the dangers of heavy metal detoxification and chelation. Strategies to rapidly restore glutathione for both antioxidant and immune defense systems are crucial especially in malnourished patients. And since we have discussed how nutritional values are dropping precipitously, and how difficult it is for an autistic child or mercury poisoned individual to absorb nutrients well, we should seriously consider all the powerful options spirulina holds for all of us.

 

     Our biological systems were not created to deal with literally thousands of chemical assaults on our bodies. Even under normal conditions (which do not exist anymore) the liver’s defensive detoxification system needs important nutrients from our diet in order to function. Because of poor diet and the rapidly declining nutritional status of almost all foods most people are not getting rid of the environmental burden of toxins that are being absorbed each and every day. The liver is the major detoxification centre of the body that fails in its function when deprived of the proper amino acids. A liver starved of vital nutrients does not detoxify as rapidly or as completely as a well fed healthy liver.  Slower detoxification results in more toxic substances circulating in the body.  Unchanged or partially changed toxins are not easily eliminated and instead pass from the liver into the body.  Eventually the toxins are stored in fatty body tissue including the brain and central nervous system cells. Stored toxins may be slowly released into the blood contributing to many chronic illnesses

 

     The liver acts as an inline filter for the removal of foreign substances and wastes from the blood.  Toxins that are cleared by the liver include alcohol, solvents, formaldehyde, pesticides, herbicides and food additives.  The liver has the function of reducing toxins into compounds that the body can safely handle and remove through the kidneys, skin (as sweat) lungs and bowels.

 

     How the liver detoxifies toxins highlights the importance of a food source like spirulina. A healthy liver uses two mechanisms, called Phase 1 and Phase 2 detoxification to remove toxins.  In Phase 1 your body’s enzymes activate toxic substances to make them more accessible for Phase 2.  In Phase 2 other enzymes convert toxins to more water soluble forms which your body eliminates through the urine or bowels. Waste Products (water soluble) are eliminated from body via Gall Bladder – bile – bowel actions, kidneys and urine.           

                        Phase 1                                               Phase 2                      

                        Required                                             Required

 

                        B Vitamins                                          Amino acids                

                        Folic Acid                                           Glutamine

                        Glutathione                                         Glycine

                        Antioxidants eg milk thistle                   Taurine

                        Carotenoids                                         Cysteine

                                                Vitamin E                                          

 

     Kids with “leaky guts” that are allowing large undigested molecules to pass into the body are creating an extra burden on the liver because increased amounts of toxic substances travel through the liver and overload its capacity to detoxify them. The ability of your liver to breakdown and remove waste products effectively depends on a range of nutrients including the B vitamins and amino acids such as Taurine.  The liver dissolves toxins into a liquid called bile which it produces with the assistance of Taurine and then removes them via the bowel. A deficiency of Taurine can lead to reduced toxin removal, digestive complaints such as fat intolerance and even risk of gall stones. Taurine is derived from methionine and cysteine metabolism. Taurine is a non-essential sulfur-containing amino acid that functions with glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid as a neuroinhibitory transmitter. While taurine does not have a genetic codon and is not incorporated into proteins and enzymes, it does play an important role in bile acid metabolism. Taurine is incorporated into one of the most abundant bile acids, chenodeoxychloic acid where it serves to emulsify dietary lipids in the intestine, promoting digestion.

     Dr. Timothy Birdsall focuses on Taurine because it is known to play an important role in numerous physiological functions. “While conjugation of bile acids is perhaps its best-known function, this accounts for only a small proportion of the total body pool of taurine in humans. Other metabolic actions of taurine include: detoxification, membrane stabilization, osmoregulation, and modulation of cellular calcium levels. Clinically, taurine has been used in the treatment of a wide variety of conditions, including: cardiovascular diseases, epilepsy and other seizure disorders, macular degeneration, Alzheimer's disease, hepatic disorders, and cystic fibrosis. Although frequently referred to as an amino acid, it should be noted that the taurine molecule contains a sulfonic acid group, rather than the carboxylic acid moiety found in other amino acids. Unlike true amino acids, taurine is not incorporated into proteins, and is one of the most abundant free amino acids in many tissues, including skeletal and cardiac muscle, and the brain. There are three known pathways for the synthesis of taurine from cysteine. All three pathways require pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (P5P), the active coenzyme form of vitamin B6, as a cofactor. A vitamin B6 deficiency has been shown to impair taurine synthesis.^”[viii]

Taurine administered to experimental animals has been able to
 increase the level of acetylcholine in the brain,[ix] and researchers
 have demonstrated that decreased concentrations of taurine are present
 in the cerebral spinal fluid of patients with advanced symptoms
 of Alzheimer's disease when compared to age-matched controls.[x]

 

     This is just one more example of how important it is that the liver is fed the amino acids it needs and how important foods like spirulina can be in a detoxification and chelation program because it supplies all the amino acids in a highly efficient form. Herbal medicines have a long history of use to enhance detoxification processes in the liver. Silybum marianum (milk thistle) is the most researched herb in this area and has been shown to increase bile production, enhance the production of detoxification enzymes by the liver, and act as an antioxidant reducing liver damage when faced with toxic chemicals. But what is new and most important is S-adenosylmethionine which is also dependent on methionine for its synthesis.  

SAMe

     A condensation of ATP and methionine catalyzed by methionine adenosyltransferase yields S-adenosylmethionine otherwise known as SAMe. ATP (adenosine-tri-phosphate) is the energy molecule used inside cells to do work and is fabricated in mitochondria. Normally the body manufactures all the SAMe it needs from the amino acid methionine. However, a deficiency of methionine, vitamin B12, or folic acid can result in decreased SAMe synthesis. SAMe is involved in over 40 biochemical reactions in the body. It functions closely with folic acid and vitamin B12 in "methylation" reactions. SAMe is also required in the manufacture of all sulfur-containing compounds in the human body including glutathione. The beneficial effects of SAMe supplementation are far-reaching due to its central role in so many metabolic processes. SAM-e is a physiologically essential compound that some chemists believe ranks with ATP as a pivotal molecule in living cells. Distributed throughout all bodily tissues and fluids, SAM-e is most concentrated in the brain and liver. SAM-e is able to reverse or prevent the elevation of gamma-glutamyl-transpeptidase (GGT), a strong indicator of liver toxicity.

SAM-e methylation pathways require B12 and folate as cofactors.

     SAMe has been used successfully in cases of depression because SAMe is necessary in the manufacture of important brain compounds such as neurotransmitters and phospholipids like phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylserine. According to Dr. Michael Murray supplementing the diet with SAMe in depressed patients results in increased levels of serotonin, dopamine, and phosphatidylserine, and improved binding of neurotransmitters to receptor sites, resulting in increased serotonin and dopamine activity and improved brain cell membrane fluidity resulting in significant clinical improvement. SAM-e improves nerve cell membrane uptake of phospholipids, enabling the coupling of protein receptors to second messengers within a more fluid lipid bi-layer and enhancing transmission of impulses by neurons.

     Though it has not been tested in children it could have far reaching effects in autistic children whose brain chemistries have been fried with toxicity and starved of SAMe because of malnutrition, mal-absorption, and the inability to manufacture SAMe when the liver is overloaded with toxicity. SAMe has been shown to be quite beneficial in several liver disorders including cirrhosis, Gilbert's syndrome, and oral contraceptive-induced liver damage. Its benefits are related to its function as the major methyl donor in the liver and its lipotropic activity. One of the leading contributors to impaired liver function is diminished bile flow or cholestasis. SAMe is beneficial for a variety of liver disorders because of its ability to promote bile flow and relieve cholestasis.

     SAMe is amazingly important though overlooked in detoxification and chelation. It is an essential molecule like glutathione and is absolutely crucial for normal liver function. SAMe is the central player in liver biochemistry because it does several crucial things: It methylates, it transforms itself into the liver's most vital substance, glutathione, and it has a leading role in liver regeneration. The liver contains the third highest amount of SAMe in the body, after the adrenal and pineal glands and thus it also has its important function for sleep disturbed children. The liver has a tough job. It has to break down every chemical the body encounters, including drugs. It has to filter blood, chase after bacteria, make bile, and create various other substances such as lipoproteins. SAMe protects the liver against cholestasis (bile impairment or blockage). It may even protect the liver against chronic active hepatitis. It protects against liver damage caused by MAO inhibitors and anticonvulsants. It is known to reverse hyperbilirubinemia and its use in cancer patients during chemotherapy treatment significantly reduced liver toxicity levels.[xi] We could expect to see the same with mercury toxicity though it has not been shown or tested in this regard. 

     Half of all methionine in the body is used in the liver to make SAMe. It is used in many different cellular processes, from replication to biochemical reactions that create melatonin so when children with autism have problems sleeping we can suspect a problem in this area. As a precursor, SAM-e donates sulfur via the transsulfuration pathway. Transsulfuration and aminopropylation (donation of aminopropyl moieties) contribute to SAMe’s analgesic properties, anti-inflammatory action, and protection of gastrointestinal mucosa.

     A poor human diet combined with gut problems leads to deficits in SAM-e. Our bodies generate SAM-e with the liver being the largest producer (3 grams/day). SAM-e levels are most easily increased through oral SAM-e supplementation.

Mark Sircus Ac., OMD
Director International Medical Veritas Association and
The International Detoxification and Chelation Clinic
http://www.imva.info
http://www.worldpsychology.net
+55-83-252-2195
www.skype.com ID: marksircus

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[i] Zalups RK, Robinson MK and Barfuss DW (1991a) Factors affecting inorganic mercury transport and toxicity in the isolated perfused proximal tubule. J Am Soc Nephrol  2: 866-878[Abstract].

[ii] Houser MT and Berndt WO (1988) Unilateral nephrectomy in the rat: Effects on mercury handling and renal cortical subcellular distribution. Toxicol Appl Pharmacol  93: 187-194[Medline].

[iii] Lash LH and Zalups RK (1992) Mercuric chloride-induced cytotoxicity and compensatory hypertrophy in rat kidney proximal tubular cells. J Pharmacol Exp Ther  261: 819-829[Abstract].

[iv] Endo T, Sakata M. Effects of sulfhydryl compounds on the accumulation, removal and

cytotoxicity of inorganic mercury by primary  cultures of rat renal cortical epithelial cells.

Pharmacol Toxicol 1995;76:190-195.

[v] L.G. Costa, M. Aschner, A. Vitalone, T. Syversen and O.P. Soldin, Developmental neuropathology of environmental agents, Annu Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 44 (2004), pp. 87–110.    

[vi] Dr. Antoine Al-Achi, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Campbell University, School of Pharmacy,
Buies Creek, NC http://www.uspharmacist.com/oldformat.asp?url=newlook/files/Comp/ginger2.htm&pub_id=8&article_id=772

[vii] Inkielewicz. I.  Krechniak, J. FLUORIDE EFFECTS ON GLUTATHIONE PEROXIDASE AND LIPID PEROXIDATION IN RATSDepartment of Toxicology, Medical University of GdaNsk.bFor Correspondence: Dept. of Toxicology, Medical University of GdaNsk. 80-416, GdaNsk, Al. Gen. Hallera 107, Poland, E-mail: woczar@...

[viii] Birdsall, Timothy. Therapeutic Applications of Taurine. (Alt Med Rev 1998;3(2):128-136) http://www.thorne.com/altmedrev/fulltext/taurine3-2.html

[ix] Tomaszewski A, Kleinrok A, Zackiewicz A, et al. Effect of various amino acids on acetylcholine metabolism in brain tissue. Ann Univ Mariae Curie Sklodowska 1982;37:61-70.

[x] Csernansky JG, Bardgett ME, Sheline YI, et al. CSF excitatory amino acids and severity of illness in Alzheimer's disease. Neurology 1996;46:1715-1720.

[xi] Santini D, Vincenzi B, Massacesi C, Picardi A, Gentilucci UV, Esposito V, Liuzzi G, La Cesa A, Rocci L, Marcucci F, Montesarchio V, Groeger AM, Bonsignori M, Tonini G. Anticancer Res BACKGROUND: Liver toxicity can be observed during treatment with most chemotherapic agents, and represents one of the principal causes of dose reduction or chemotherapy delays. S-Adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) plays a critical role in the synthesis of polyamines and provides cysteine for the production of glutathione (GSH), the major endogenous hepatoprotective agent. Our study was aimed at assessing the protective effect of AdoMet supplementation in cancer chemotherapy-induced liver toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifty cancer patients who developed, for the first time, anticancer chemotherapy-induced liver toxicity were studied. Enrolled patients received oral AdoMet supplementation. RESULTS: AST, ALT and LDH levels recorded at the moment of the recognition of liver toxicity were significantly reduced after one week of AdoMet therapy (respectively p: 0.009, 0.0005 and 0.012). AST, ALT and LDH decrease was confirmed after two weeks of treatment. Furthermore, the effect on these enzyme levels persisted in the following chemotherapy courses, permitting our patients to perform the scheduled chemotherapy courses with a minimal number of dose reductions or administration delays. The efficacy of AdoMet supplementation was not influenced by the presence of liver metastases, and no appreciable side-effects were recognized. CONCLUSION: The results of our study clearly demonstrate a protective effect of AdoMet in cancer chemotherapy-induced liver toxicity. Further large phase III studies are required to assess the real clinical benefit associated with AdoMet supplementation.