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My Translocator Protein Studies Results

cigana

Senior Member
Messages
1,095
Location
UK
Hi,

I have had Acumen's translocator protein studies test done recently. If anyone could help interpret the results I'd really appreciate it. I am not sure what exactly to focus on and how that might be achieved (in terms of detox / treatment). Here are the results:

Initial Examination
---------------------
mitochondria numbers of: normal
mitochondrial clumping: normal
mt-membrane structure: damage
mt-DNA fluorescence: normal

Mt-Membrane Binding
-----------------------
proteins: normal
esterases: normal
lipids: damage
Diolein: trace
Aldehydes: High

Chemical on TL sites
------------------------
Ribonucleoside-2P reductase: moderate
Epoxy-oleic acid: moderate

Other
----------
Mt membrane K: low-norm
Mt membrane Mg: low
Mt membrane Zn: low


Thanks!

Mark
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit: The summary of my "ATP studies on neutrophils" test is:

Very low whole-cell ATP.
Low ATP-related magnesium.
28% blocking of active sites leading to very poor ADP to ATP reconversion.
Very low mt-ATP and very poor provision of ATP.
Highly restricted access, 28% blocked traslocator function.
 

Vegas

Senior Member
Messages
577
Location
Virginia
Hi,

I have had Acumen's translocator protein studies test done recently. If anyone could help interpret the results I'd really appreciate it. I am not sure what exactly to focus on and how that might be achieved (in terms of detox / treatment). Here are the results:

Initial Examination
---------------------
mitochondria numbers of: normal
mitochondrial clumping: normal
mt-membrane structure: damage
mt-DNA fluorescence: normal

Mt-Membrane Binding
-----------------------
proteins: normal
esterases: normal
lipids: damage
Diolein: trace
Aldehydes: High

Chemical on TL sites
------------------------
Ribonucleoside-2P reductase: moderate
Epoxy-oleic acid: moderate

Other
----------
Mt membrane K: low-norm
Mt membrane Mg: low
Mt membrane Zn: low


Thanks!

Mark

Couple of thoughts:

High Aldehydes: You may benefit from supplementing with molybdenum (like 500 mcg/day), which enhances activity of the acetaldehyde dehydrogenase enzyme, if I recall correctly. You probably also have pretty significant alcohol intolerance and perhaps candida. Could also have copper toxicity. Conversion of acetaldehyde into acetic acid, the stuff that can be excreted, needs co-enzyme A, so take generous doses of pantethine. (2 x Jarrow 450 mg = best value)

Also wonder about your sulfate status. Perhaps you would benefit from epsom salt baths.

lipid damage/mito membrane damage: Pantethine can help for this too, also lecithin/PS complex, omegas, NT factor--unless you are HM toxic as this contains some single thiols and ALA.

I'm HM fixated and have a liberal arts background, so take it for what it is worth, but your mineral issues are suggestive of some degree of Hg toxicity.
 
Messages
15,786
I'm HM fixated and have a liberal arts background, so take it for what it is worth, but your mineral issues are suggestive of some degree of Hg toxicity.

I'm a lawyer with a glutamate fixation :-/ Maybe we need a support group and a 12-step program.
 

cigana

Senior Member
Messages
1,095
Location
UK
Thanks Vegas (even if you have got an arts background!). Interesting you mention HM, because my doc thinks that is a possibility due to high reverse T3 and high pyroles. But then I'd expect them to have shown up in the translocator test...

Cheers

Mark
 

Vegas

Senior Member
Messages
577
Location
Virginia
Thanks Vegas (even if you have got an arts background!). Interesting you mention HM, because my doc thinks that is a possibility due to high reverse T3 and high pyroles. But then I'd expect them to have shown up in the translocator test...

Cheers

Mark

I think the failure to show up on the translocator protein test is probably not that surprising. Isn't this purely a mitochondrial assessment. Your mitos are obviously beat up but that doesn't have to be caused directly from heavy metals. In fact, I think a more indirect route is more likely. There are dozens of ways hm's could cause you big problems even though they may not be directly affecting...stuck to the mito's. The Hg does its damage indirectly by impairing transport of minerals, deactivating enzymes, causing vitamin deficiencies (like pyroluria), methionine deactivation, and of course the partial methylation block & low glutathione problem Rich has popularized. Low zinc & mag, presumed low moly, pyroluria...you should get a hair elements test.
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
Hi Cigana, this fits with an old model of mine. I never got around to discussing this publicly much, its been sitting in my to do list for nearly a decade now. I call it the citrate flush hypothesis. In it I proposed that due to oxidative stress the mitochondria releases bursts of citric acid during sleep. This is to combat oxidative stress due to heavy metal contamination, such metals have a double positive charge. This also depletes the mitochondria of Mg and Zn, as these also have a double positive charge. If there is a state of chronic oxidative stress (glutathione, peroxynitrite, something else) then the mitochondria can keep pumping out nightly citrate (citrate data identified sleep as the only time citrate is released in quantity) and so the mitochondria are deficient in both magnesium and zinc. Please note the mitochondrial calcium, which also is double positive, should also be depleted in this model, but I don't think you were tested for that.

As was noted earlier, manganese can assist enzmatic detox of aldehydes. Guess what charge manganese has? You could have mitochondrial manganese deficiency also.

This is just an hypothesis.

Bye
Alex
 

cigana

Senior Member
Messages
1,095
Location
UK
I think the failure to show up on the translocator protein test is probably not that surprising. Isn't this purely a mitochondrial assessment. Your mitos are obviously beat up but that doesn't have to be caused directly from heavy metals. In fact, I think a more indirect route is more likely. There are dozens of ways hm's could cause you big problems even though they may not be directly affecting...stuck to the mito's. The Hg does its damage indirectly by impairing transport of minerals, deactivating enzymes, causing vitamin deficiencies (like pyroluria), methionine deactivation, and of course the partial methylation block & low glutathione problem Rich has popularized. Low zinc & mag, presumed low moly, pyroluria...you should get a hair elements test.

Well my doc gave me a DMSA challenge but I only got a small dose in the end (because I blacked out). It will be interesting to see the results!

Mark


Edit: my recent serum copper test was low at 10.4 (12.5-25.0).
 

cigana

Senior Member
Messages
1,095
Location
UK
Hi Cigana, this fits with an old model of mine. I never got around to discussing this publicly much, its been sitting in my to do list for nearly a decade now. I call it the citrate flush hypothesis. In it I proposed that due to oxidative stress the mitochondria releases bursts of citric acid during sleep. This is to combat oxidative stress due to heavy metal contamination, such metals have a double positive charge. This also depletes the mitochondria of Mg and Zn, as these also have a double positive charge. If there is a state of chronic oxidative stress (glutathione, peroxynitrite, something else) then the mitochondria can keep pumping out nightly citrate (citrate data identified sleep as the only time citrate is released in quantity) and so the mitochondria are deficient in both magnesium and zinc. Please note the mitochondrial calcium, which also is double positive, should also be depleted in this model, but I don't think you were tested for that.

As was noted earlier, manganese can assist enzmatic detox of aldehydes. Guess what charge manganese has? You could have mitochondrial manganese deficiency also.

Hi Alex,

This is an interesting idea. I actually had Calcium tested but didn't report as it was in the normal range:

outer membrane pH: 6.9 (6.8-7.4)
outer membrane Ca2+: 115 (<200)

When you say manganese did you mean molybdenum?!

Cheers,

Mark
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
Hi Alex,

This is an interesting idea. I actually had Calcium tested but didn't report as it was in the normal range:

outer membrane pH: 6.9 (6.8-7.4)
outer membrane Ca2+: 115 (<200)

When you say manganese did you mean molybdenum?!

Cheers,

Mark

Hi cigana, doh, I did mean molybdenum, but manganese also has a +2 charge, many metals do (but not always, for example iron can be plus 2 or plus 3 I think). Normal calcium is not necessarily against the theory but it certainly doesn't support it. This is because calcium is tightly regulated and quickly returns to normal. We keep intracellular calcium stores that can be used for this. Only a sample taken during the late stages of sleep can properly test my hypothesis, and since that has never happened it remains only an hypothesis at this point. Bye, Alex
 

Vegas

Senior Member
Messages
577
Location
Virginia
Well my doc gave me a DMSA challenge but I only got a small dose in the end (because I blacked out). It will be interesting to see the results!


Edit: my recent serum copper test was low at 10.4 (12.5-25.0).

DMSA challenges are really not a good idea, but now that you have done it I think your response is very telling. My response to DMSA to 12.5 mg's was all I needed; I suspect your Doc gave you something in the order of 20-50 x's this dosage. insist on low dose, continuous oral chelation if you go that route. Please, don't do i/v chelation or once or twice daily dosage. I'm not some sort of Cutler ideologue, just someone who has been to hell and am coming back and don't want others making the same mistakes.

I don't think your serum copper result is diagnostic one way or the other. I certainly wouldn't supplement with Cu as a result of this labwork, and in view of what you reported above.

Here is an excerpt from Hair Test Interpretation:

http://books.google.com/books?id=U7...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

page 115:

"Blood copper levels are actively controlled by the body for various
reasons and do not increase due to copper toxicity until highly toxic
levels are reached in other tissues and a life threatening crisis is
imminent. Blood copper levels do however go up and down substantially
in response to inflammatory processes. Hair copper is fairly reliable
as an indicator of body copper levels but blood copper is irrelevant.
Urine copper levels are also of little meaning and can only be
considered significant when someone collects a timed (e.g. 24 hour)
urine specimin and is not taking any sort of chelating or copper
mobilizing agents.

Blood copper levels (red blood cell, serum, plasma) are elevated by
the mineral transport derangement characteristic of mercury poisoning,
and also by anything such as infection or allergy that causes
inflammation. Birth control pills and cancer also elevate blood
copper. High blood copper levels do not necessarily mean toxicity, it
is only reasonable to be concerned when blood or red blood cell copper
levels are well outside the normal range (much greater than 97.5th
percentile on reports presented that way)."
 

willow

Senior Member
Messages
240
Location
East Midlands
Cigana,
FWIW I wouldn't rule out HM being an issue. My translocator sites weren't even blocked (though tests showed very compromised ATP measurements) but I've had huge dumping of metals in the years since my mito tests.
 
Messages
41
Location
Kent, UK
Just had my translocator protein results back too:

My mitochondria were all fine in terms of structure and number, However I had a lot of benzoquinone stuck all over the Translocator sites. I also had DNA adducts test done, and had benzoate and benzoquinone stuck all over those too on the MBD-1 gene and non-gene area q17.

I had the mitochondrial tests done back in June and the main reason i scored 35% was almost entirely down to these toxic blockages on the TLs sites.
Benzene and its derivatives are in petrol fumes, food preservatives and pharmaceuticals. I had a quick look round the house at various cosmetics and cleaning products, and benzene and benzoate or similar derivatives where in almost every cosmetic I use on a daily basis - mouthwash, shower gel, shampoo, hair gel, moisturiser and hand soaps. So it looks like its everywhere for me. First step is going to be avoidance, and then will try to see how best to detox it out of me.

The constant exposure probably explains why I've made almost no progress since I became ill, all the detoxing and supplements in the world weren't going to make much difference, if I was unknowingly keeping myself ill by using benzene type cosmetics the whole time.
 

cigana

Senior Member
Messages
1,095
Location
UK
Hi Jonnyboy,

Thanks for posting. I guess you already know but you might want to look into far infra-red sauna to see if it works for benzoquinone. Have you had a detox profile done to see if you're properly able to detox? I mean that might be the root problem, as opposed to simply being exposed to the stuff.

Update on my stuff: according to John McClaren-Howard (who invented the test) the toxins I have (mostly aldehydes) do not come out in sweat, so sauna isn't an option for me. I'm looking into lipid replacement therapy. I also discovered one of the other toxins I have, epoxy-oleic acid, probably comes from my love of grilled chicken, as grilling forms an epoxy from the oleic acid, which I was surprised to find is a major constituent of chicken fat.

Cheers,

Mark
 
Messages
41
Location
Kent, UK
Nope not done a detox profile yet. is that one of dr myhill's tests?

Cigana, I suspect you are right that its a detoxification problem for me now, as I had been exposed to those same products for much of the last 15 years, I cant see why now it has only become a problem. But for the time being until I can see the doc about my results, I think avoidance is the best policy. I was thinking of buying a far-infra sauna, but seeing as they are about 200, I'm gonna hold fire on that until I speak to the doc as I don't want to shell out for something that may not be useful for me. In the meantime I was gonna buy a big bag of epsom salts and have some baths, as thats a lot cheaper and supposedly helps detox.

I had some lymphocyte senstivity tests about a week or two prior to getting the translocator protein ones. The significance of those was it showed I was very sensitive to benzoates and also petrol fumes (contain benzene). I was also sensitive to mercury but this was bordeline, although it was my 3rd highest sensitivity behind the other two. According the the acumen literature, when they the lymphocytes come into contact to something they are senstive to, this reaction forces calcium into the cells, which is not a good thing to have.
 

richvank

Senior Member
Messages
2,732
Hi, jonnyboy.

I wonder if your glycine is low. Benzoic acid is normally conjugated with glycine in the liver to make hippuric acid, as part of the Phase II glycination detox pathway. If your glycine is low, it could also affect your ability to detox salicylates, such as aspirin, and your ability to make bile salts and glutathione.

Best regards,

Rich
 
Messages
41
Location
Kent, UK
Thanks Rich,

My diet is quite rich in good meats and veg, so maybe I would have enough glycine from this its hard to know. I have started a whole range of supplements too that my doctor prescribed me, one of them contained metafolin in it too. I might list these at some point as I'm sure that they can't all be necessary as my diet is good anyway.

The only things I haven't cut out yet are gluten and dairy. I tested negative for coeliac disease thou. One of my tests showed I had high levels of candida, in fact the comment was it could be systemic. Either way I've had so many test results back I'm unsure of which are the most significant. I'd be suprised if I was allergic to any foods as I can literally eat anything and no feel worse as a result.

So far the only thing that had made some noticeable difference was a couple of sessions with an osteopath. As regards Perrin's ideas about the poor posture of the body causing ME, I was dubious about that. However I have had a long history of injuries in athletics caused by biomechanical problems, and at the moment I do have a restricted neck and upper spine (I was able to figure that one out for myself), so thought it was worth a shot.

Anyway I've got a bit sidetracked. lol

Jonny
 
Messages
41
Location
Kent, UK
Cheers Cigana,

Having a detox profile might be something I really do need.

I strongly suspect now, that its less a problem with external toxins and more a problem with my own faulty metabolism, and inability to detox things properly. I've come to this conclusion after doing a bit of digging. The main compound stuck over my translocator proteins imparing their efficiency was benzoquinone, the same was stuck on my dna adducts.

I accidentally came across this article and found that benzoquinone is supposed to be used in the synthesis of coenzyme q10.
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/coq10/

What is interesting from that article is that vitamin b6 is needed for the synthesis, and guess what?
Last week I found out I was very deficient in that vitamin, as well as several others, and many I wasnt deficient in, I was right at the bottom of normal range.

Seems unbelievable to me that I could be deficient in vitamins, given my diet, which has consisted of tons of organic meat, fresh fruit and veg for months now. What I suspect is happening is I'm just not absorbing them in my gut.

A recent stool sample showed high levels of candida, one parasite blastocystis hominis, low amounts of good gut flora, and my secretory IGA was very very low.

In the couple of months prior to becoming unwell I was given several courses of antibiotics, which are known for screwing up the balance of the gut. The kicker here being, the antibiotics were totally unnecessary as it turned out I never had an infection. c'est la vie