What are nucleotides? Are they essential dietary components?

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Title: What are nucleotides? Are they essential dietary components?

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Author: McEvoy

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What are nucleotides? Are they essential dietary components?

Copyright 2005 McEvoy

Nucleotides and RNA are valuable immune system building

blocks. Since Dr Koeppel, one of the leading experts

on immunology and biochemistry at a leading Swiss

pharmaceutical company, released a paper on their use for

human health applications, interest has soared. Here we

explain what a nucleotide is and describe its close links

with our DNA to begin with, and go on to highlight the

beneficial implications of supplementing the daily diet

with these naturally-derived, conditionally essential

dietary components.

Where do nucleotides come from?

As any good nutritionist will tell you, anything that the

human body needs can be obtained from food. Foods that are

naturally high in nucleotides include:

• Liver

• Tripe

• Lean Meat

• Fish

• Mushrooms

• Fungi

• Yeast extract

However, to boost your immune system with nucleotides, they

must be taken in a more concentrated form.

Understanding Nucleotides and DNA

Dr Koeppel states that nucleotides are the building blocks

necessary for creating new DNA and RNA. To help us

understand this, we need to think back to high school when

we learned about the double-helix of DNA. Remember the

spiral ladder with the different coloured rungs? That is a

model representing the DNA that makes up the genes and

chromosomes found in us all. DNA is a very large molecule,

and the rungs of the DNA ladder are made of a combination

of two different nucleotides. The nucleotides are molecules

- guanosine and cytosine - that pair up together, or

adenosine and thymidine, which also pair up together.

Adenosine and guanosine are called purines. Cytosine,

thymidine and uradine are called pyrimidines. RNA is

similar to DNA, except that the molecule uradine replaces

thymine in that pair, and RNA is an intermediary between

DNA and protein. A gene is a discrete sequence of DNA

nucleotides, and genes are what make up our chromosomes.

So, it makes sense that genes are made of DNA.

While all of this sounds very technical, what you need to

understand is that nucleotides are molecules that are

essential to the creation of new DNA and RNA molecules,

which are then used by new cells of all kinds. This is

important because nucleotides, either by themselves or in

combination with other molecules, are involved in almost

all activities of the cell (and therefore, the body).

What is DNA in layman’s terms?

Deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA, which makes up the genetic

material in cells, is comprised of units called

nucleotides.

Nucleotides can be simply described as the nutritional

building blocks of new cells. There are five key

nucleotides, which form the crucial building blocks of DNA

and RNA, and are therefore essential for ongoing new cell

production and system repair.

The body has an ongoing demand for new cell production, and

must create cells at the same rate at which its cells die.

To do this, a typical cell must double its mass and

duplicate all of its contents in order to produce the two

new ‘daughter’ cells.

This multiplication of a cell starts with the doubling of

the information (inter-phase) - namely the DNA. Previously

we discussed how the DNA is formed by the five key

nucleotides. A normal DNA consists of 3 billion nucleotides.

It is only after this multiplication of the DNA that the

M-phase can start. This is where the two cell nuclei are

formed and the cells start to divide into two separate

cells.

Cell proliferation is a lengthy and complicated process,

dependent mainly on energy and supply of the specific

building blocks, the five key nucleotides.

Research has shown that by providing extra dietary sources

of nucleotides, the multiplication of these new cells can

be speeded up. This applies to the following cell types:

Intestinal mucosa cells – the cells lining the gut

Bone marrow cells, namely leukocytes (especially

Lymphocytes) – more commonly termed as the white blood

immune cells

Erythrocytes – Red blood cells

Certain brain cells

For years, nucleic acids and nucleotides were considered

essential nutrients. Now these nucleotides are

increasingly considered to be limiting in certain diets and

during periods of stress and illness.

It was thought that the body could synthesise sufficient

nucleotides to meet its physiological demands via ‘de novo’

synthesis of nucleotides. However, research during the last

several years indicates that this is not correct. There

are certain conditions in which the body requires dietary

nucleotides to meet its physiological requirements.

These conditions include:

Rapid growth

Limited food supply

Stress

Chronic disease

Bacterial and viral infections

In these situations, metabolic demand exceeds the capacity

of the ‘de novo’ synthesis, and therefore dietary

nucleotides become conditionally essential.

Importantly, dietary nucleotides may also spare the

energetic costs of ‘de novo’ synthesis of nucleotides.

Critical point in nutrition: energy

Building nucleotides by the ‘de novo’ process requires lots

of time and energy. Supplementing purified nucleotides to

the diet reduces the proportions required to manufacture,

while accelerating all active processes and saving energy

also.

Supplementary nucleotides have been demonstrated to enhance

the efficiency of a number of vital organs; these include:

Immune organs including the bone marrow

Liver

Intestines

Consequently, supplementary nucleotides have an effect on a

number of vital functions:

Immunity

Production of stress hormones

Digestion and absorption of nutrients

Vitality and well-being

Focussing on Immunity

Nucleotides are an essential part of an healthy immune

system, because they have been shown to support the

following:

The reversal of malnutrition or starvation-induced

immunosuppression

Enhancement of T-cell maturation and function

Enhancement of natural killer cell activity

Increase of delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity

Aiding resistance to infectious agents such as

Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans

Modulation of T-Cell responses toward type 1 CD4 helper

lymphocytes or TH1 cells.

In layman’s terms, nucleotides help to boost the immune

system by speeding up the process of creating new defence

cells, which are essential for the body to fight infections.

Reducing the effect of an infection

In 2003 a double-blind placebo controlled trial was carried

out by Dr Isobel son at Queen Margaret University

College, Edinburgh. This clinical trial was carried out to

test the effects of nucleotides on reducing the severity of

specific symptoms, secondary infections and healing time

after a natural infection by the cold or flu virus. The

findings showed that the specific formula of nucleotides

significantly reduced the symptoms of painful sinuses and

earache. Over the first six days of taking the nucleotides

or a placebo, the discomfort level was on average greatly

reduced for the nucleotide patients:

Dry mouth: 30% less

Sore throat: 20% less

Muscle aches: 15% less

Headache: 40% less

Salivary IgA (antibody) concentrations were similar at

recruitment, but the subsequent to this were higher in

general for the nucleotide group. For the layman, higher

antibody levels indicate a greater immune response.

Preserving a strong immunity

The positive effects of supplementary nucleotides on

immunity was also backed up with another placebo controlled

trial carried out by Professor Lars McNaughton, University

of Bath, 2002. McNaughton tested the effects of nucleotides

on athletes under both short-term and high intensity, and

moderate endurance exercise. Again these results were

significant and conclusive. Athletes on the nucleotide

treatment showed a 25% higher IgA concentration after 90

minutes endurance exercise, compared with the placebo

group.

The stress hormone, cortisol, was 10% reduced for the

nucleotide supplemented group. High cortisol levels have

been shown to impede the effectiveness of disease fighting

cells. Hence, the placebo group showed a greater drop in

antibodies. High decreases in IgA (antibodies) are thought

to be a reason for increased levels of Upper Respiratory

Tract Infection (e.g. colds and flu) for athletes and

people suffering high levels of stress.

In conclusion, the body needs nucleotides to help support a

healthy immune response. The body can normally take these

from food, but in times of stress, illness, poor diet or

rapid growth, dietary nucleotides become conditionally

essential; supplementing all five nucleotides has been

shown to preserve a strong immunity, and reduce the

severity of infections.

About the Author:

Dave Mcevoy: A great resource for nucleotides is Nucell

Active. For more information visit http://www.nucell.co.uk

, or to purchase go to http://www.mind1st.co.uk