Coconut oil prolongs life in peroxisomal disorders: fruit fly study
Date:
June 20, 2018
Source:
University of Bonn
“Summary:
'Lorenzo's Oil' was to help a seriously ill boy suffering from a peroxisomal disorder (adrenoleukodystrophy/ALD). The true story was turned into a film which made the rare disease well known. Scientists investigated such peroxisomal diseases on fruit flies. They were able to prove that a coconut oil diet significantly increases the vitality and lifespan of the flies.”
...
The researchers also investigated human cell lines derived from patients with peroxisomal biogenesis disease. These too showed that without a coconut oil diet, the mitochondria swell and free fatty acids accumulate in toxic concentrations. "We were able to transfer some aspects that we observed on flies to human cells,” ... This is an important indication for a possible therapy approach in humans.”
This study used a medium chain fatty acid introduced through coconut oil to treat the disease. Research into perioxidase disease had previously been focused on long chain fatty acids, as was used in “Lorenzo’s Oil”.*
*“Lorenzo’s Oil’ is a combination of a 4:1 mix of oleic acid and erucic acid, extracted from rapeseed oil and olive oil designed to normalize the accumulation of the very long chain fatty acids in the brain thereby slowing the progression of adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).“ https://www.myelin.org/lorenzos-oil/