Hi Paul,

Another FYI:

I submit this mainly for the demonstration that an enzyme supp
(another one) can be absorbed across an intact GI membrane as well as
for the info on nattokinase.

[While what you have stated is technically correct, this is not the same as
saying that the enzyme will be effective when taken orally with or without food.
The second paper below only demonstrates absorption when nattokinase is
administered "intraduodenally", ie. directly into the duodenum (either directly
by injection through the abdominal wall or via gastric tube through the nose or
mouth bypassing the stomach). There are certainly lots of whole proteins and
other enzymes which will cross the GI wall, but most of them get degraded by the
digestive processes in the stomach.

Nevertheless, it appears from my added abstract (3) below that nattokinase even
has effective fibrinolytic activity when taken orally. --Paul]


I confess I've not searched pub med on either of these topics, but
ran across this on Dr. Ray Sahelian's site. If anything he tends to
be overly conservative (to put it mildly).
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1. Evidence that nattokinase is effective

Thrombolytic effect of nattokinase on a chemically induced thrombosis
model in rat.
Biol Pharm Bull. 1995 Oct;18(10):1387-91.
Nattokinase is a new fibrinolytic enzyme which cleaves directly cross-
linked fibrin in vitro. In this study, we investigated the
thrombolytic effect of nattokinase on a thrombus in the common
carotid artery of rat in which the endothelial cells of the vessel
wall were injured by acetic acid. When a section of occluded vessel
was stained for CD61 antigen by immunofluorescence utilizing a
monoclonal antibody, the antigen was localized around the surface of
the occluded blood vessels. This result suggests that the occlusive
thrombosis was caused by platelet aggregation. In addition,
thrombolysis with urokinase (UK; 50000 IU/kg, i.v.) or tissue
plasminogen activator (tPA; 13300 IU/kg, i.v.) in our model was
observed to restore the blood flow over a 60 min monitoring period.
The results indicate that our chemically induced model is useful for
screening and evaluating a thrombolytic agent. We evaluated the
thrombolytic activity of nattokinase using this model and compared it
with fibrino(geno)lytic enzyme, plasmin or elastase. On a molar
basis, the recovery of the arterial blood flow with nattokinase,
plasmin and elastase were 62%, 15% and 0%, respectively. The results
indicate that the thrombolytic activity of nattokinase is stronger
than that of plasmin or elastase in vivo.
----------------------------------------------------------------

2. Evidence that it works administered per duodenum in rats:

Transport of nattokinase across the rat intestinal tract.
Biol Pharm Bull. 1995 Sep;18(9):1194-6.
Intraduodenal administration of nattokinase at a dose of 80 mg/kg,
resulted in the degradation of fibrinogen in plasma suggesting
transport of nattokinase across the intestinal tract in normal rats.
The action of nattokinase on the cleavage of fibrinogen in the plasma
from blood samples drawn at intervals after intraduodenal
administration of the enzyme was investigated by sodium dodecyl
sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western
blotting analysis with an anti-fibrinogen gamma chain antibody. The
270 kDa fragment carrying antigenic sites for the binding of the anti-
fibrinogen gamma chain antibody appeared within 0.5 h and was then
degraded gradually to a 105 kDa fragment via a 200 kDa fragment. This
suggests that fibrinogen was degraded to a 105 kDa fragment via
several intermediates (270 and 200 kDa). In parallel with the
degradation process, plasma recalcification times were remarkably
prolonged NK was also detected in the plasma from blood samples drawn
3 and 5 h after administration of the enzyme by SDS-PAGE and Western
blotting analysis with an anti-nattokinase antibody. The results
indicate that nattokinase is absorbed from the rat intestinal tract
and that nattokinase cleaves fibrinogen in plasma after intraduodenal
administration of the enzyme.
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Scott La Pidus


Added by Paul:

3. Acta Haematol. 1990;84(3):139-43.

Enhancement of the fibrinolytic activity in plasma by oral administration of
nattokinase.

Sumi H, Hamada H, Nakanishi K, Hiratani H.

Department of Physiology, Miyazaki Medical College, Japan.

The existence of a potent fibrinolytic enzyme (nattokinase, NK)
in the traditional fermented food called 'natto', was reported
by us previously. It was confirmed that oral administration of
NK (or natto) produced a mild and frequent enhancement of the
fibrinolytic activity in the plasma, as indicated by the fibrinolytic
parameters, and the production of tissue plasminogen activator. NK
capsules were also administered orally to dogs with experimentally
induced thrombosis, and lysis of the thrombi was observed by
angiography. The results obtained suggest that NK represents a
possible drug for use not only in the treatment of embolism but also
in the prevention of the disease, since NK has a proven safety and
can be massproduced.
PMID: 2123064