Heavy isotope diet is the consumption of

nutrients A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

in which some atoms are replaced with their heavier non-radioactive

isotope Isotopes are distinct nuclear species (or ''nuclides'') of the same chemical element. They have the same atomic number (number of protons in their Atomic nucleus, nuclei) and position in the periodic table (and hence belong to the same chemica ...

s, such as

deuterium Deuterium (hydrogen-2, symbol H or D, also known as heavy hydrogen) is one of two stable isotopes of hydrogen; the other is protium, or hydrogen-1, H. The deuterium nucleus (deuteron) contains one proton and one neutron, whereas the far more c ...

(²H) or heavy carbon (¹³C). Biomolecules that incorporate heavier isotopes give rise to more stable molecular structures under certain circumstances, which is hypothesized to increase resistance to damage associated with

ageing Ageing (or aging in American English) is the process of becoming older until death. The term refers mainly to humans, many other animals, and fungi; whereas for example, bacteria, perennial plants and some simple animals are potentially biol ...

or diseases. Medicines with some hydrogen atoms substituted with deuterium are called

deuterated drug A deuterated drug is a small molecule medicinal product in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms in the drug molecule have been replaced by its heavier stable isotope deuterium. Because of the kinetic isotope effect, deuterium-containing drugs m ...

s, while substances that are

essential nutrient A nutrient is a substance used by an organism to survive, grow and reproduce. The requirement for dietary nutrient intake applies to animals, plants, fungi and protists. Nutrients can be incorporated into cells for metabolic purposes or excret ...

s can be used as food constituents, making this food "isotopic". Consumed with food, these nutrients become building material for the body. The examples are deuterated

polyunsaturated fatty acid In biochemistry and nutrition, a polyunsaturated fat is a fat that contains a polyunsaturated fatty acid (abbreviated PUFA), which is a subclass of fatty acid characterized by a backbone with two or more carbon–carbon double bonds. Some polyunsa ...

s, essential aminoacids, DNA bases such as

cytosine Cytosine () (symbol C or Cyt) is one of the four nucleotide bases found in DNA and RNA, along with adenine, guanine, and thymine ( uracil in RNA). It is a pyrimidine derivative, with a heterocyclic aromatic ring and two substituents attac ...

, or

heavy water Heavy water (deuterium oxide, , ) is a form of water (molecule), water in which hydrogen atoms are all deuterium ( or D, also known as ''heavy hydrogen'') rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope (, also called ''protium'') that makes up most o ...

and

glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecular formula , which is often abbreviated as Glc. It is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. It is mainly made by plants and most algae d ...

Suggested mechanism

One of the most pernicious and irreparable types of

oxidative damage Oxidative stress reflects an imbalance between the systemic manifestation of reactive oxygen species and a biological system's ability to readily detoxify the reactive intermediates or to repair the resulting damage. Disturbances in the normal r ...

inflicted by

reactive oxygen species In chemistry and biology, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive chemicals formed from diatomic oxygen (), water, and hydrogen peroxide. Some prominent ROS are hydroperoxide (H2O2), superoxide (O2−), hydroxyl ...

(ROS) upon biomolecules involves the carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage (hydrogen abstraction). Intriguingly, the biomolecules most damageable by this type of damage belong to the group of

s (10 out of 20 amino acids; nucleosides at certain conditions (conditionally essential); all

s). In theory, replacing hydrogen with deuterium "reinforces" the bond due to the

kinetic isotope effect In physical organic chemistry, a kinetic isotope effect (KIE) is the change in the reaction rate of a chemical reaction when one of the atoms in the reactants is replaced by one of its isotopes. Formally, it is the ratio of rate constants for t ...

, and such reinforced biomolecules taken up by the body will be more resistant to ROS.

Deuterated omega-6 fatty acids for humans with degenerative diseases

The company

Retrotope Retrotope, Inc. is a drug development company advancing the idea that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) drugs fortified with heavy isotopes (reinforced lipids) protect living cells by making bonds within the delicate molecules inside and around ...

pioneered the

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

a source of deuterated

omega-6 Omega−6 fatty acids (also referred to as ω−6 fatty acids or ''n''−6 fatty acids) are a family of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) that share a final carbon-carbon double bond in the ''n''−6 position, that is, the sixth bond, count ...

fatty acid

di-deuterated linoleic acid ethyl ester Deulinoleate ethyl (also known as di-deuterated ethyl linoleate, di-deuterated linoleic acid ethyl ester, 11,11-''d''-ethyl linoleate, or ethyl 11,11-''d''-linoleate) is an experimental, orally-bioavailable synthetic deuterated drug, deuterated p ...

(

RT001 Deulinoleate ethyl (also known as di-deuterated ethyl linoleate, di-deuterated linoleic acid ethyl ester, 11,11-''d''-ethyl linoleate, or ethyl 11,11-''d''-linoleate) is an experimental, orally-bioavailable synthetic deuterated polyunsaturated f ...

) as a food additive for potential treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Friedreich’s ataxia and

infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy Infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy (INAD) is a rare pervasive developmental disorder that primarily affects the nervous system. Individuals with infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy typically do not have any symptoms at birth, but between the ages of abo ...

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

has granted it an orphan drug designation and it passed the Phase I/II

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s (as of 2018).

References

External links

a New Scientist article about ifood

a Scientific American article about content of ¹³C in American fast food
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ifood (Isotopic Food) Life extension Nutrients Hypotheses

Suggested mechanism

Deuterated omega-6 fatty acids for humans with degenerative diseases

See also

References

External links