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Proteolytic Enzymes

Enzymes are catalysts in chemical reactions. The body has thousands of them to

drive metabolism, repair, and so on. There are also enzymes that help enzymes

and these are called co-enzymes. Vitamins are co-enzymes and without a good

supply of enzymes, vitamins have little effectiveness. As we shall see, that may

become a factor with age.

Many of the body's enzymes come from the pancreas gland. These pancreatic

enzymes such as pancrease, trypsin, chymotrypsin, etc. form the material for

many other enzymes in the body in what is called an enzyme cascade. Because

among their properties and the first noted by medical scientists (and actually

the only noted property among most of them) is to dissolve protein into amino

acids, they are called proteolytic enzymes. Proteolytic means " protein

destroying. " They are also called proteases. This digestive function, of

breaking down a steak into absorbable molecules, is but one function of many.

Proteolytic enzymes can come from animal sources such as pancreatic enzymes, or

from plants with enzymes such as papain (from papaya,) or bromelain (from

pineapples.) There are also other sources. Serrapeptase comes from silk worms

who use it to eat their way out of their cocoon. Nattokinase comes from

fermented soy. There are many others derived from fungus or bacteria.

Misconceptions have occurred about proteolytic enzymes. One is that they do no

more than help digestion. Related to this is the idea, still taught in schools,

that they are not absorbed into the body but confine their activity to the

digestive tract. Another false belief is that the body has enough enzymes to do

the job throughout life.

Many studies using radioactive tracers and other techniques have found that

proteolytic enzymes are, in fact, absorbed systemically. Clearly, nature has a

reason for this.

Research has shown that the body has a fixed amount of enzymes that are largely

used up by the age of 27 to 35. After that the levels in the body fall

precipitously and with it, optimal body function begins to decline. For example,

gray hair is thought to be due to a decline in tyrosinase. Plasminogen declines

with age and that leads to fibrosis in the arteries, the source of

artherosclerosis.

Proteolytic enzymes have, in fact, several important functions in the body

besides digestion. Not all enzymes are equally efficacious for these functions

and their strengths vary among enzymes.

Fibinolytic. Fibrin is a breakdown product of fibrinogen found in the blood

stream and important in blood clotting. When there is an injury and fibrinogen

escapes the blood vessels it is used to form scar tissue. Anyone who has had

surgery knows that excess fibrin causes problems such as adhesions. This often

occurs in older patients who do not have enough enzymes to control the fibrin.

In pathological conditions it invades organs and interferes with their function.

This condition is called fibrosis as in cystic fibrosis or fibromyalgia or

fibrocystic breast disease among many others. Some experts believe that a slow

fibrosis is a normal part of aging and tissues and organs slowly shrink and

harden over time because of fibrosis.

In the blood vessels, fibrosis forms the basis for atherosclerosis. Dr. Hans

Nieper, the famous German medical innovator, used serrapeptase and bromelain to

dissolve deposits in the arteries and prevent heart attacks and strokes. Excess

fibrin in the blood causes hypercoagulability or increased viscosity of the

blood. In other words, it gets thicker like ketchup. This can starve tissue of

oxygen causing the pain of fibromyalgia, or headaches. According to several

researchers, " …many chronic conditions such as attention deficit disorder,

autism and schizophrenia, as well as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease,

irritable bowel, endocrine (hypothalamic-adrenal axis-related) sleep disorder,

and the type of infertility that manifests itself in repeated miscarriages

(fetal wastage syndrome), are all related to elevated blood viscosity and organ

dysfunction caused by impeded, insufficient blood flow. " Cancer is also

associated with hypercoagulability. Among the factors that cause this problem

are excess lipoprotein (a), excess homocysteine, excess blood fats and sugar,

and excess thromboxane.

The reason that we rarely get these conditions when we are young is because the

body uses proteolytic enzymes to dissolve fibrin. After enzyme levels decline

the slow fibrosis sets in. Consuming fibinolytic or " fibrosis busting " enzymes,

especially nattokinase or serrapeptase among others, can dissolve fibrosis over

time. This may have profound anti-aging effects. In enzyme mixtures it is the

most powerful fibrinolytic enzyme that activates the others. Chymotrypsin,

nattokinase and serrapeptase are examples.

Anti-inflammatory. Inflammation is a healthy response to injury, marshalling the

resources of the immune system to protect the body. Recent research has shown

that chronic systemic inflammation is a major factor in many diseases such as

cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, autoimmune conditions, etc. as well as

the usual inflammatory conditions such as arthritis or asthma. In many such

cases the body becomes stuck in an ever increasing, self-perpetuating

inflammation cycle where the body responds to the danger of inflammation by

creating more inflammation. Proteolytic enzymes interfere with the inflammation

cycle by stopping bradykinin and inflammatory eicosanoids. They also ameliorate

autoimmune conditions by dissolving the circulating immune complexes (CIC) which

are thought to trigger such conditions. Europeans and Russians have long

preferred to use enzymes rather than NSAID's (aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.) and

corticosteroids ( e.g. prednisone) for injuries as they have far fewer

side-effects. For example, one European study contrasted a proteolytic enzyme

blend with diclofenac, an NSAID, and found them similar in effect except that

the enzymes had no side effects. NSAID's hospitalize and kill many thousands

annually.

Thins mucus. Conditions such as sinusitis, bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and

other where mucus build up becomes a problem often benefit dramatically from the

use of proteolytic enzymes. A Japanese study concluded " serrapaptase may exert a

beneficial effect on mucus clearance by reducing neutrophil numbers and altering

the viscoelasticity of sputum in patients with chronic airway diseases. " A

German study of 140 patients with airway obstructive disorders such as

bronchitis and sinusitis declared it almost 98% effective.

Increase potency of antibiotics. Serrapeptase, bromelain, and others increase

the blood and urine level of antibiotics resulting in better effects than taking

antibiotics alone.

Anti-Viral. Proteolytic enzymes attack the coating on viruses rendering them

harmless. This can be quite dramatic. For example, in one study in the treatment

of herpes zoster (shingles) an orally administered proteolytic enzyme

preparation was more effective than the standard drug therapy (acyclovir.) In a

study in patients with hepatitis C, proteolytic enzymes were shown to be

slightly superior to alpha-interferon in improving laboratory values and

symptoms.

Anti-Cancer. In 1906, ish physician, Beard, proposed that something in

the pancreas gland prevented cancer. He found that it was the proteases that

patrolled the body and stopped cancer from developing. He made this observation

by noting the similarity of cancer to the undifferentiated cells of the chorion.

In pregnancy it stops growing when the pancreas gland kicks in. He used fresh

pancreas extract to cure many patients. Others over the years have worked with

this hypothesis to treat cancer with large doses of pancreatic enzymes, often

quite successfully. Dr. in New York is currently undergoing

large scale studies.

Others have found that proteolytic enzymes can dissolve the fibrin coat on a

tumor that hides it from the immune system and allows natural killer cells to

find and attack the tumor.

Blood Cleansing. Blood not only carries nutrients to our cells, it also escorts

garbage out. This can easily be seen in a darkfield microscope where " dirty "

blood shows up clearly. Proteolytic enzymes clear out this " dirty " blood and the

results are quick and dramatic as seen in the microscope.

Analgesic. Serrapeptase reduces pain by blocking pain inducing amines released

from inflamed tissue.

Proteolytic enzymes are usually free of side effects but should not be used with

warfarin or other anticoagulants without a doctors' supervision. They should

also be used with caution in respiratory conditions. One case involved a man who

developed pneumonia when his mucus became too thin.