I have been doing some research on the area of methylation and function and how the body performs it's various conversions of folate, B12 etc etc.
Below, I have posted some summary forms of research from three notable researchers/physicians: Dr. Neubrander, Prof. James and Prof. Deth.
I have raised a question for Rich and Freddd regarding their protocols but I look forward to everyone's response if they have any thoughts/technical data that can help the community in understanding the "why" and "how" of the protocols for recovery.
- Rich:
If a person doesn't have a pathology defined B12 deficiency, why not just supplement with methylfolate to get the conversion to mb12? What is the purpose of adding in hydroxyB12 if no B12 deficiency exists (no deficiency defined as the liver having sufficient stores of hydroxy/adenosyl forms, which are the two forms it can store well)?
- Freddd:
1) What is the purpose of adding in methylfolate when high doses of methylB12 are being recommended? Afterall, it's the methylfolate that is the end product of the combination of methylfolate and hydroxyB12. The only time I can see methylfolate being required is if it is deficient on the methylation panel, in which case, other enzymes [such as PAH, which converts phenylalanine to tyrosine] may require it too.
2) If the purpose of adenosylB12 is to saturate the mitochondria in the CNS and increase ATP production, wouldn't this be a bad thing in the presence of GSH depletion? If most of the oxidative damage stems from the electron transport chain, doesn't it seem like a bad idea to boost ATP production without first attending to the methylation cycle blockage and it's associated GSH depletion in order to provide the CNS with a REDOX positive state so that an increase in ATP generation doesn't cause further odixative damage?
Some research summaries:
- Dr. Neubrander, Autism specialist, has an amazing 94% responder rate with his autism patients. His protocol consists of no methylfolate, no hydroxy or adenosyl B12's...just methylB12 at a specific dosage, given at a specific injection site which then gives a "slow release" over 3 days from the one shot. He says the slow release allows the mB12 receptors to reach AND maintain saturation for this extended period.
- Prof. Jill James, Autism researcher, states that in her extensive testing, non-mB12 forms could balance CH3 cycle markers but it is ONLY methylB12 that consistently balances GSH:GSSG in addition to the CH3 markers . Her clinical research has shown that children who's CH3 chemistry balanced out but GSH wasn't optimal and only methylB12 was able to bring GSH:GSSG ratio to optimal levels, as compared to the control group.
If I remember correctly, it was also Jill James' research that showed the addition of cyano/hydroxyB12's was NOT able to prevent a disruption to CH3 cycle in the presence of thimerosal (the mercury containing preservative in vaccinations). When methylB12 was added in, there was NO disruption to CH3 biochemistry in the presence of thimerosal. This suggests that methylB12 can potentially be used as a preventative measure against autism!...kind of like a "vaccine against a vaccine"!
- Prof. Richard Deth, methylation biochemistry researcher, demonstrates that non-CNS methionine synthase (MTR) is very different to CNS MTR, whereby the CNS is lacking the SAM domain. This observation is of importance to CFS because there are issues with low GSH (which is used in order to prevent the cobalt ion from oxidizing during its "transit" from cyano/hydroxy to methyl) and low SAM.
When methylB12 is oxidized (as often the case in CFS), the body can "save" the B12 by donating a methyl group from SAM. The CNS doesn't have this SAM domain and thereby can't save the oxidized B12. This is where the research demonstrates that supplementing straight with methylB12 removes the pressure off this enzyme as there is no "wait time" for the transfer of methyl from methylfolate to B12 (which is usually the period where the cobalt ion oxidizes).