Ribose: Why might it work for ME/CFS patients

[Georgelis]

Has anyone looked at the research linking d-ribose consumption in rodents with cognitive impairments? (apologies if it's been discussed somewhere else on this forum). This was posted on another webpage a couple of days ago: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ar... found that long-term,for the high dose group . I am somewhat worried as I take d-ribose regularly - it gives me a noticeable boost. (I use a maximum of about 10 g a day and I weigh about 66 kg, so that works out to about 0.152 g/kg per day, which is less than half the low dose given to the rats (0.375 g/kg per day)). I did a bit of further searching on the internet and found this review in a fairly respected journal (impact factor c. 5.7): https://www.frontiersin.org/article...ngs indicate that D,in the generation of AGEs. Any comments? Anyone with a good knowledge of brain biochemistry?

 

[Rufous McKinney]

could we have high D-ribose for some physiological reasons in our bodies and that is exacerbating our cognitive impairments?

 

[Georgelis]

I wouldn't have thought we already have high D-ribose - in such a situation why would supplementation with D-ribose help with energy levels? Also, (some of) the cognitive impairments found in the rodent studies appeared to be related to tau and amyloid irregularities - i.e. the sorts of changes found in dementia/Alzheimer's, and, as far as I'm aware, such changes aren't characteristic of me/cfs.

 

[lenora]

@pattismith....she may be the one who can answer your questions. Give her a try, anyway.
Yours, Lenora

 

[Georgelis]

Many thanks, Lenora. I haven't noticed d-ribose causing cognitive impairments - in fact, my experience is that it gives me more physical and mental energy. However, if I've understood the above papers correctly, some of the changes implicated in the rodent studies are of the dementia/Alzheimer's type (production of advanced glycation end products impacting on amyloid/tau proteins), which are long term effects. Since many ME/CFS sufferers take D-ribose, I think it's important we should know if there may be the possibility of such side effects in humans. I will try contacting Pattismith.

 

[hips_fan]

I would like to throw a little wrench in the works here. Feel free to skip over this post if you find it too technical.

When ATP is degraded during intense muscle contractions, the result is Inosine, which is then lost from the muscle.

When talking about resynthesis of ATP, there are actually three metabolic pathways that can be used:

1. the de novo pathway, which synthesizes ATP from Ribose
2. the HGPRT purine salvage pathway, which synthesizes ATP from hypoxanthine and Ribose
3. the APRT purine salvage pathway, which synthesizes ATP from Adenine and Ribose

For those interested, here are the details of the three pathways:


The de novo pathway:
Step 1 of the de novo pathway is to synthesize IMP from Ribose 5' Phosphate:
View attachment 40549

Step 2 of the de novo pathway is to convert IMP to ATP:

1. adenylosuccinate synthase converts IMP to adenylosuccinate
2. adenylosuccinate lyase converts adenylosuccinate into AMP
3. AMP is twice phosphorylated to ATP

The HGPRT purine salvage pathway:

1. Ribose-phosphate diphosphokinase converts Ribose to Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP)
2. Hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) converts PRPP and Hypoxanthine to IMP
3. adenylosuccinate synthase converts IMP to adenylosuccinate
4. adenylosuccinate lyase converts adenylosuccinate into AMP
5. AMP is twice phosphorylated to ATP

The APRT purine salvage pathway:

1. Ribose-phosphate diphosphokinase converts Ribose to Phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate (PRPP)
2. Adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT) converts PRPP and Adenine to AMP
3. AMP is twice phosphorylated to ATP

@Pyrrhus , @Hip

If we see the de novo pathway.
Then
1) Ribose Phosphate
2) Amino Acids(Glutamine,Glycine,Aspartate)
3) Folate(Formyl Groups)
4) ATP
All 4 are required.

So shouldnt one take
1) D-ribose + protein source + B-complex to cover up everything.

Also UMP is formed via PRPP(formed on step of de novo), UMP is a catalyst in kennedy pathway to
form phosphatidylcholine.
So maybe adding some lecithnin powder or eggs to cover up choline requirements.
Also since supplements contain D-ribose and not Ribose Phosphate so does one need to
take a phosphorus supplement along with D-ribose?