PQQ Joins B Vitamin Family 33766

PQQ Joins B Vitamin Family

TOKYO--Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) is definitely a vitaminand is likely a member of the B vitamin family, according to Tadafumi Kato,M.D., Ph.D., and researchers from the Aging and Psychiatric Research Group ofthe Brian Science Institute. PQQ is the first new vitamin to be discovered since1948, when vitamin B12 was found.

Kato and his team published a paper in the April 2003 issue of Nature(422, 6934:832, 2003) (www.nature.com)noting PQQ, which was first isolated from bacteria, is likely important tomammals, although its biological pathways are unknown. They added that PQQ,which must be supplied by the diet, acts as a cofactor in enzyme-catalyzedreduction-oxidation (redox) reactions, much as nicotinamides and flavins. As amammalian redox cofactor necessary for the degradation of the amino acid lysine,PQQ qualifies as a member of the B vitamin family, the researchers concluded.

Investigators at the University of California (UC), Davis, also published apaper on PQQ's necessity in mammalian health. Their study, which appeared in theFebruary 2003 issue of Experimental Biology & Medicine (228, 2:160-6,2003) (www.ebmonline.org), demonstratedPQQ supplementation improved reproductive performance and growth in mice. The UCDavis researchers fed mice amino acid-based diets with or without 6 mcg/kg ofPQQ for eight weeks before breeding. At weaning, the pups were fed the samediets as their mothers. Researchers noted decreased conception and fertility inPQQ-deficient mice, and the babies born to PQQ-deprived mothers grew at slowerrates than offspring from mice given supplemental PQQ.

Previous in vitro research conducted with PQQ has demonstrated it may act asan antioxidant. Researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, found PQQprotected isolated rabbit heart cells against oxidative damage (BiochemBiophys Res Commun, 193, 1:434-9, 1993), while a team out of the Universityof Otago in New Zealand concluded the reactivities of PQQ are dependent on itsenvironment, and the vitamin can act as an antioxidant or pro-oxidant indifferent biological systems (Biochem Pharmacol, 65, 1:67-74, 2003).Another study, conducted at Harvard Medical School in Boston, demonstrated PQQ'ssuperoxide scavenging abilities, leading researchers to conclude this may be itsmechanism of action for protecting against stroke (Eur J Neurosci, 16,6:1015-24, 2002).