Overview
PrimAGE is to aging as breakfast is to fasting.
PrimAGE is a supplement containing two forms of vitamin B-6:
pyridoxamine and pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (P5P). The role of P5P
is to slow the body’s conversion of pyridoxamine to other
substances, thereby prolonging its activity. (Ordinary vitamin B-6
supplements contain neither of these substances.)
While pyridoxamine, like all B vitamins, is involved in the conversion of food into energy, its most exciting property was
only discovered in the 1990s: pyridoxamine inhibits the formation of ‘Advanced Glycation End-products’ (AGEs).
AGEs are damaged proteins that accumulate in the body as one ages, causing tissues to lose their elasticity and causing enzymes
to malfunction. In fact, this accumulation of AGEs is considered to be one of the principal causes of aging.
AGEs also play a major role in diabetes — they may account
for much of the tissue damage that is seen in the diabetic state
— including damage to kidneys (nephropathy), nerves
(neuropathy), vasculature (atherosclerosis), and eyes (retinopathy,
cataracts).
PrimAge therefore has three important applications:
- slowing the aging process
- inhibiting diabetes-related damage to the body
- helping to extract energy from food.
Read PrimAGE™ Monograph
PrimAGE
is a formulation containing two forms of vitamin B-6: pyridoxamine and
pyridoxal-5'-phosphate (P5P). (Ordinary vitamin B-6 supplements usually
consist of another form, called ‘pyridoxine’.) The P5P in our formula
slows the body’s conversion of pyridoxamine to other substances,
thereby prolonging its activity.
What we can’t tell you
In
the U.S. and some other industrialized countries, government agencies
like the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have adopted censorship as a
method for intensifying their control over the supplement industry and
its customers. Thus, FDA regulations prohibit us from telling you that
any of our products are effective as medical treatments, even if they are, in fact, effective.
Accordingly, we will limit our discussion of PrimAGE to a brief summary of recent pyridoxamine research, and let you draw
your own conclusions about what medical conditions it may be effective in treating.
Protein damage in aging and diabetes
While it has been known since the 1940s that pyridoxamine is a form of vitamin B-6, it was only recently that its unique and
exciting properties came to light. In 1996 it was announced that pyridoxamine inhibits the formation of ‘Advanced Glycation End-products’ (AGEs).
AGEs are damaged proteins — mainly structural proteins and enzymes — that have been bonded together by certain sugars in such
a way as to impair their normal function. AGEs accumulate in the body as one ages,causes of aging. causing tissues to lose their elasticity and causing enzymes to malfunction. In fact, this accumulation of AGEs is considered
to be one of the principal
Aging,
however, is not the only condition in which AGEs play a major role.
Diabetes is another. Periods of high blood sugar (‘hyperglycemia’) are
a hallmark of diabetes, and the resulting exposure of tissues to
certain sugars (especially glucose) greatly increases the rate at which
AGEs are formed. The accumulation of AGEs may account for much of the
tissue damage that is seen in the diabetic state — including damage to
kidneys (nephropathy), nerves (neuropathy), vasculature
(atherosclerosis), and eyes (retinopathy, cataracts).
Pyridoxamine and aging
Since aging is not officially recognized as a disease or medical condition by the FDA, we are free to tell you that pyridoxamine
looks like an excellent agent for suppressing a major cause of aging. Here is the logic involved:
- The accumulation of AGEs correlates with aging.
- AGEs cause some of the symptoms of aging, such as tissue stiffness and loss of function.
- Pyridoxamine inhibits the formation of AGEs.
- Therefore,
pyridoxamine is likely to suppress some aspects of aging. Only a
decades-long clinical study can demonstrate this conclusion beyond a
shadow of a doubt, but few would be so foolish as to wait decades for
such a study to be completed before going ahead and using pyridoxamine
as an anti-aging supplement.
Pyridoxamine and diabetic symptoms
Here are some highlights of recent research into the connection between AGEs, diabetes, and pyridoxamine:
- AGEs play a key role in the damage of tissues by sugars, such as glucose.
- The presence of diabetic complications correlates with elevated serum AGEs.
- Pyridoxamine inhibits the formation of AGEs ex vivo and in diabetic rats. (It is generally assumed that similar inhibition takes place in humans, although no studies have been done to prove it.)
- Pyridoxamine protects against the development of nephropathy (kidney damage), retinopathy (damage to the retina), and neuropathy
(nerve damage) in animal models of diabetes.
- Pyridoxamine slows kidney damage in diabetic patients. (The effects of pyridoxamine on diabetic neuropathy, retinopathy, and cardiovascular damage have not yet been studied in
human clinical trials.)
Conclusion
Are pyridoxamine supplements effective for preventing diabetic complications? We aren’t allowed to tell you, so you should
take a look at some of the references cited here, and then decide for yourself.
References
[1] Pyridoxamine: the many virtues of a maillard reaction inhibitor. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2005 Jun;1043:807-16 Voziyan PA, Hudson BG
[2] Thiamine pyrophosphate and pyridoxamine inhibit the formation of antigenic advanced glycation end-products: comparison with
aminoguanidine. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1996 Mar 7;220(1):113-9 Booth AA, Khalifah RG, Hudson BG
[3] Advanced glycation end product (age) inhibitors and their therapeutic implications in diseases. Int J Clin Pharmacol Res. 2004;24(2-3):95-101 Takeuchi M, Yamagishi S, Iwaki M, Nakamura K, Imaizumi T
[4] Background: Introduction to the Biology of Aging and Senescence Legendary Pharmaceuticals website
[5] Advanced glycation end products in clinical nephrology. Kidney Blood Press Res. 2004;27(1):18-28. Epub 2004 Dec 10. Kalousova M, Zima T, Tesar V, Stipek S, Sulkova S
[6] Glucose, glycation and aging. Biogerontology. 2004;5(6):365-73 Suji G, Sivakami S
[7] Pyridoxamine,
an inhibitor of advanced glycation and lipoxidation reactions: a novel
therapy for treatment of diabetic complications. Arch Biochem Biophys. 2003 Nov 1;419(1):41-9 Metz TO, Alderson NL, Thorpe SR, Baynes JW
[8] Advanced glycation end-products and the progress of diabetic vascular complications. Physiol Res. 2004;53(2):131-42 Jakus V, Rietbrock N
[9] Pyridoxamine: an extremely potent scavenger of 1,4-dicarbonyls. Chem Res Toxicol. 2004 Mar;17(3):410-5 Amarnath V, Amarnath K, Amarnath K, Davies S, Roberts LJ 2nd
[10] Pyridoxamine
traps intermediates in lipid peroxidation reactions in vivo: evidence
on the role of lipids in chemical modification of protein and
development of diabetic complications. J Biol Chem. 2003 Oct 24;278(43):42012-9. Epub 2003 Aug 15 Metz TO, Alderson NL, Chachich ME, Thorpe SR, Baynes JW
[11a] The AGE inhibitor pyridoxamine inhibits development of retinopathy in experimental diabetes. [abstract only] Diabetes. 2002 Sep;51(9):2826-32 Stitt A, Gardiner TA, Alderson NL, Canning P, Frizzell N, Duffy N, Boyle C, Januszewski AS, Chachich M, Baynes JW, Thorpe
SR
[11b] The AGE inhibitor pyridoxamine inhibits development of retinopathy in experimental diabetes. [full text] Diabetes. 2002 Sep;51(9):2826-32 Stitt A, Gardiner TA, Alderson NL, Canning P, Frizzell N, Duffy N, Boyle C, Januszewski AS, Chachich M, Baynes JW, Thorpe
SR
[12] Pyridoxamine inhibits early renal disease and dyslipidemia in the streptozotocin-diabetic rat. Kidney Int. 2002 Mar;61(3):939-50 Degenhardt TP, Alderson NL, Arrington DD, Beattie RJ, Basgen JM, Steffes MW, Thorpe SR, Baynes JW
[13] A
Phase 2 Clinical Investigation of Pyridoxamine (Pyridorin™) in Type 1
and Type 2 Diabetic Patients with Overt Diabetic Nephropathy
(PYR-205/207). American Diabetes Association website Janet B. McGill, Mark E. Williams, Thorsten P. Degenhardt, Julie R. Szabo, Robert J. Schotzinger