We have been involved in research on the role of\u00a0mitochondrial function in ME\/CFS for some time and have\u00a0found that restoring inner mitochondrial membrane <\/a>(IMM)\u00a0trans-membrane potential is essential. When mitochondrial\u00a0membrane lipids are damaged, the IMM becomes leaky and\u00a0the membrane potential cannot be sustained, which results in\u00a0loss of ATP production and increases in fatigue.<\/p>\n Since 2003 we have published several scientific papers that show that ME\/CFS\u00a0and other chronic illness conditions, including chronic infections like Lyme disease,\u00a0chronic Mycoplasma and other complex infections, cause IMM dysfunction that can\u00a0be repaired by Membrane Lipid Replacement (MLR) with NTFactor Lipids, resulting\u00a0in improvements in fatigue, cognition, short-term memory and mood<\/p>\n Membrane Lipid Replacement: clinical studies using a natural medicine approach to restoring membrane function and improving health<\/a> by GL Nicholson in<\/span>\u00a0International Journal of Clinical Medicine<\/em>, 2016; 7: 133-143.<\/p>\n NTFactor Lipids is an all-natural membrane glycerolphospholipid product\u00a0(for example, Patented Energy<\/a>,). This has been\u00a0reviewed recently in our article in Discoveries 2016<\/p>\n Clinical uses of Membrane Lipid Replacement supplements in restoring membrane function and reducing fatigue in chronic diseases and cancer<\/a>, by GL Nicholson et al\u00a0in\u00a0<\/span> Discoveries<\/em> 2016; 4(1): e54.<\/p>\n There are other potential useful benefits of MLR that we rarely discuss, such as\u00a0the removal of excess, potentially toxic, cholesterol from cellular stores.\u00a0(Presumedly similar mechanisms exist for removal of the damaged membrane\u00a0glycerolphospholipids and their secretion and eventual excretion).<\/p>\n As quoted in an article just published in Lipid Insights by Thomas A. Lagace of\u00a0the University of Ottawa Heart Institute,<\/p>\n “Phosphatidylcholine plays a critical role\u00a0in cellular cholesterol sinks that buffer against cholesterol-induced ER stress and\u00a0assist in the maintenance of cellular cholesterol gradients that drive interorganelle\u00a0cholesterol transport.”<\/p>\n (Lagace, T.A. Phosphatidylcholine: greasing the cholesterol<\/a>\u00a0transport machinery.\u00a0Lipid Insights 2015; 8(S1): 65-73. doi:10.4137\/LPI.S31746).<\/p>\n Phosphatidylcholine is the most prevalent lipid in NTFactor Lipids, and it plays an This could explain why our ME\/CFS patients have better cholesterol, homocysteine\u00a0and other blood tests after 6 months on MLR. (Blood homocysteine and fasting insulin levels are reduced and erythrocyte sedimentation rates are increased with a glycophospholipid-vitamin formulation: a retrospective study in older subjects<\/a>, by Ellithorpe, R.R, Settineri R.,\u00a0\u00a0Ellithorpe, T. and Nicolson, G.L.\u00a0in\u00a0Functional Foods in Health and Disease 2015; 5(4): 126-135.)<\/p>\n Eventually the use of MLR may enhance and hopefully replace costly cholesterol reducing Prof. Emeritus Garth Nicolson, PhD, MD (H) ME & mitochondrial functioning\u00a0<\/em> from ME Global Chronicle No. 17 June 2016 p54<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Prof. Garth Nicolson\u00a0introduces his research: We have been involved in research on the role of\u00a0mitochondrial function in ME\/CFS for some time and have\u00a0found that restoring inner mitochondrial membrane (IMM)\u00a0trans-membrane potential is essential. When mitochondrial\u00a0membrane lipids are damaged, the IMM becomes … Continue reading
\nessential role in cholesterol transport and its removal at the cellular level and at\u00a0the organ and systems levels. This may be due to a rather simple concentration\u00a0gradient mechanism that sequesters cholesterol and oxidized\u00a0glycerolphospholipids into Lipid Droplets for their eventual removal.<\/p>\n
\ndrugs (with side effects) that Big Pharma has been pushing for some\u00a0time. For years ME\/CFS patients have benefited from NTFactor lipid products\u00a0without adverse reactions or events.<\/p>\n
\nDepartment of Molecular Pathology, The Institute for Molecular Medicine<\/a><\/p>\n