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Author Archives: lassesen
Pyrroloquinoline quinone for CFS?
A reader starting taking this and their two earlier uBiomes had zero lactobacillus and zero bifidobacterium. Both of these bacteria genus appear at low level afterwards (an improvement of both microbiome and general state).
“Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ), an aromatic tricyclic o-quinone, was identified initially as a redox cofactor for bacterial dehydrogenases. Although PQQ is not biosynthesized in mammals, trace amounts of PQQ have been found in human and rat tissues because of its wide distribution in dietary sources. Importantly, nutritional studies in rodents have revealed that PQQ deficiency exhibits diverse systemic responses, including growth impairment, immune dysfunction, and abnormal reproductive performance. Although PQQ is not currently classified as a vitamin, PQQ has been implicated as an important nutrient in mammals. In recent years, PQQ has been receiving much attention owing to its physiological importance and pharmacological effects.” [2015]
” PQQ supplementation resulted in significant decreases in the levels of plasma C-reactive protein, IL-6 and urinary methylated amines such as trimethylamine N-oxide, and changes in urinary metabolites consistent with enhanced mitochondria-related functions. ” [2013]
PubMed Literature
- Pyrroloquinoline Quinone, a Redox-active o-Quinone, Stimulates Mitochondrial Biogenesis by Activating SIRT1/PGC-1α Signaling Pathway. [2017]
- The Effect of Pyrroloquinoline Quinone on Apoptosis and Autophagy in Traumatic Brain Injury.[2017]
- “. Electroencephalogram indicated that pyrroloquinoline quinone improved brain electrophysiological function after traumatic brain injury. The results of CCK-8 test showed that pyrroloquinoline quinone could increase the viability of primary astrocyte treated with Glutamate. Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assay demonstrated that pyrroloquinoline quinone decreased LDH content in primary astrocyte exposed to Glutamate.”
- Modulation of glycine sites enhances social memory in rats using PQQ combined with d-serine[2016].
- Neuroprotective effects of pyrroloquinoline quinone against rotenone injury in primary cultured midbrain neurons and in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease.[2016]
- Effect of the Antioxidant Supplement Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium Salt (BioPQQ™) on Cognitive Functions [2016].
- “Subjects were orally given 20 mg of BioPQQ™ per day or placebo, for 12 weeks. “
- “The preliminary experiment using near-infrared spectrometry (NIRS) suggests that cerebral blood flow in the prefrontal cortex was increased by the administration of PQQ. The results suggest that PQQ can prevent reduction of brain function in aged persons, especially in attention and working memory.”
- Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Decelerates Rheumatoid Arthritis Progression by Inhibiting Inflammatory Responses and Joint Destruction via Modulating NF-κB and MAPK Pathways. [2016]
- Effects of Pyrroloquinoline Quinone Disodium Salt Intake on the Serum Cholesterol Levels of Healthy Japanese Adults. [2015]
- ” Our study findings suggest that PQQ suppressed the LDL-chol level, which is an important finding, because a high level of this lipid is a risk factor for various lifestyle-related disease”
- “When provided PQQ, E. coli utilizes it as an enzymatic cofactor in enzymes important to glucose and alcohol metabolism. Although it seems likely that PQQ supplements may alter metabolic features of E. coli, whether PQQ influences lactobacillus and other organisms that are utilized as probiotics remains to be examined. Making the link between PQQ and probiotic use nevertheless has potential in describing certain effects of PQQ.” [src]
Informal Comments
One discussion group:
- THUMBS UP: “DID yield decent enough beneficial therapeutic effects; and DID NOT EXPERIENCE intolerable side effects; and IS WORTH the cost” (71 votes [61.74%] – View)
- THUMBS DOWN: “DID NOT yield decent enough beneficial therapeutic effects; and/or EXPERIENCED intolerable side effects; and/or IS NOT WORTH the cost” (44 votes [38.26%] – View)
- “I have FMS/CFS and started taking PQQ recently and it has made a huge difference in my mental health as well as fatigue. Nothing has ever made any difference to the crippling fatigue I experience day in day out, so I was so happy to have come across this. I also started taking ubiquinol (Coq10 did nothing for fatigue) which also has the same effect as the PQQ (or maybe it is boosting what the PQQ has regenerated?) but sometimes when I take them together I become really angry and can end up in an uncontrollable rage. B12 also does this to me so maybe it is a methylation issue.” [Src]
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I take it at Klimas’ suggestion. IIRC, she said I should get my CoQ-10 levels up before adding PQQ for the best effect. PQQ supposedly helps us generate more mitochondria, but I guess if you don’t have enough CoQ-10 for the mitochondria you already have to work properly, how smart is it to try to grow new mitochondria that also wouldn’t be able to function properly? [Src]
This study found that PQQ helped fatigue, tension-anxiety, depression, anger-hostility and confusion, appetite, sleep, obsession and pain, with the full effect appearing after 8 weeks supplementing daily with 20 mg of PQQ. [Src]
Bottom Line
The documented neuroprotective aspects of PQQ makes it an attractive supplement for CFS. There is an absence of studies on the microbiome or studies with CFS/IBS/FM.
There is no supporting evidence that it increases Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium, nor evidence of adverse effect.
A Reader with mild CFS microbiome
Looking at this uBiome, I noticed that the standard items are far less extreme (today) than most CFS readers. This was not the case a year ago, or 3 years ago. This appears to agree with only 1 uncommon bacteria and just 2 overgrowth bacteria genus (the lowest number that I recall seeing).
Reader Notes
I’ve been sick so long, and tried so many things, that I’m not easily able to make choices.
I’ve tried many dietary interventions, ranging through Wahls’ Paleo Plus, Crook’s candida diet, high resistant starch, nothing but potatoes, etc. I recently realized that I have histamine issues, so my latest rotation of probiotics dropped histamine-producing strains. I’ve had presumed Lyme this summer and last, and did a month of doxycycline each time. I have always taken probiotics during and after antibiotics.
I have slow-onset, gradual progression CFS. In my 30 years of experimentation, the only things that help are a very low carbohydrate diet (but I immediately get severely constipated and give up), and starting in August, 20mg Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) daily. The PQQ has bumped me from high-moderate to high-mild.
I am on day 3 of Bimuno. I bought 3 packs of 30 because…..shipping from the UK. If this is a bad idea, I would like to know that.
I have had multi-waking insomnia for decades. I wake 3-5 times a night (in 8-9 hours), and usually go back to sleep quickly. I have trouble with mental focus, so I don’t drive in crowded situations, or for longer than 15 minutes, or on highways. I’m self-sufficient, spend almost all of my time alone, and leave the house 2-3 times a week for groceries and to replenish books from the library. I can’t handle tv, movies, or any kind of streaming.
Gradual decline 3year ago => 1 year ago, continuing until about 2 weeks from starting PQQ, then slow, irregular increase in function.
Standard Items:
- Lactobacillus: 0.02x (2014, 2015 – 0x)
- Bifidobacterium: 0.18x (2014, 2015 – 0x)
- Akkermansia: 0.28x (2.66x in 2014, 0x in 2016)
- Diversity: 75%ile
- Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes: 2.0:1 (Normal 2.1:1)
- 5.1:1 in 2014
- 1.1:1 in 2016
Historic Trends
Uncommon Bacteria
| Bacteria name | Rank | % of Samples |
|---|---|---|
| Anaerovorax | Genus | 3.2% |
High Bacteria
| Subdoligranulum: | 3.71 X |
| Sutterella: | 1.96 X |
Reference
- Subdoligranlum: https://cfsremission.wordpress.com/2017/10/10/decreasing-subdoligranlum/
- Sutterella: https://cfsremission.wordpress.com/2017/10/13/decreasing-sutterella-genus/
Bottom Line Suggestions
The lists below are done by merging the lists from the deep dives linked above. Some items may encourage one genus and discourage another genus — those are removed (unless it seems that it strongly predominates on one). The impact on Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and E.Coli are intentionally ignored [See this post for the logic]. This is all based on applying logic to the results of studies — thus theoretical. This is an addition (not a replacement) to this overview post.
Avoid
- Berberine
- Bifidobacterim Breve
- BPA bottles
- Lactobacillus Casei
- Lactobacillus salivarius
- Omega 3
- Saccharomyces boulardii
- Walnuts
Take
- Bifidobacterium Longum probiotics
- High Fat diet
- Inulin
- Lactobacillus plantarum probiotics
Personal Comment
The appearance of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium, with Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes approaching normal is a very positive sign. I need to revisit “Feeding of Lactobacillus”.
I will be researching Pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) it is not something that I have come across before.
This is an education post to facilitate discussing this approach with your medical professionals. It is not medical advice for the treatment of any condition. Always consult with your medical professional before doing any changes of diet, supplements or activity. Some items cites may interfere with prescription medicines.
A Healthy FMT Donor Microbiome and response to FMT
The reader whose uBiome I reviewed here in September, did a followup with his FMT donor and got permissions from the healthy donor to share. This is of great interest because FMT for CFS tend to work well for a while and then the patient relapse. Understanding the factors involve with FMT is an important quest.
Reader Notes
I did a series of 5 FMTs for my CFS, back in August. And I was lucky in my donor. I found a longtime friend locally, more than willing to help, and in extremely good health. Breast-fed as an infant, clean diet, no antibiotics in past 6 months, passed all the basic pathology screenings.
And when I say “extremely good health,” I mean: an athlete who does CrossFit, low anxiety, whom I’ve never seen tired or irritable. If I asked 10 of our mutual friends who is the healthiest man they personally know, they would all mention his name.
But my FMT was only mildly helpful. It immediately corrected my previous 2 months of severe fatigue (following a difficult outpatient surgery after which I declined antibiotics). But there were no other significant changes. It just brought me back to me pre-surgery baseline, which has been decades of CFS (brain fog, low energy, exercise intolerance, general hypersensitivity, etc).
With that in mind, I got his permission to let you take a look at his uBiome results we just got back.
The analysis of the reader who had the FMT is here.
Standard Items:
- Lactobacillus: 0x
- Bifidobacterium: 4.07x
- Akkermansia: 0x
- Diversity: 59%ile
- Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes: 1.8:1 (Normal 2.1:1)
Uncommon Bacteria
| Bacteria name | Rank | % of Samples |
|---|---|---|
| Leptotrichia | Genus | 1.5% |
| Anaerobacter | Genus | 3.0% |
| Parasporobacterium | Genus | 3.5% |
| Neisseria | Genus | 4.2% |
| Aggregatibacter | Genus | 4.7% |
High Bacteria
It is interesting to note that every high genus (apart from Bifidobacterium) is on the list of typical overgrowths seen with CFS (see this post)
| Odoribacter: | 2.55 X |
| Bifidobacterium: | 2.55 X |
| Faecalibacterium: | 1.91 X |
| Slackia: | 1.88 X |
| Streptococcus: | 1.75 X |
| Subdoligranulum: | 1.73 X |
| Adlercreutzia: | 1.65 X |
| Clostridium: | 1.59 X |
Bottom Line
In my earlier post, Theortical Protocol for Fecal Transplants for CFS/IBS etc, I suggested “donor should not have any bacteria genus > 1.5x that the recipient has > 1.5x.” This donor match this criteria, so well it may be helpful (as it was in this case), I would like to suggest raising the threshold to: “No bacteria genus > 1.5x should be on the list of common bacteria genus overgrowths listed at Overview of this Blog and the Microbiome.“
How can the donor be healthy with no Lactobacillus?
There are several possible answers:
- He may be taking adequate supplements to compensate.
- His DNA (remember DNA SNPs are associated with CFS/IBS/FM and symptoms).
- Other bacteria may be compensating
- He may be borderline CFS
- The high Bifidobacterium compensated.
This is an education post to facilitate discussing this approach with your medical professionals. It is not medical advice for the treatment of any condition. Always consult with your medical professional before doing any changes of diet, supplements or activity. Some items cites may interfere with prescription medicines.
If your focus is to increase some strains…
A reader wrote:
“I am low on butyrivibrio crossotus, akkermansia muciniphilia and methanobrevibacter smithii. That is why I’ve gained 20 lbs in 6 months. I had an infected pacemaker taken out at Cleveland Dec 2016. The symptoms started Feb 2017. I was researching all three bacteria and ways to I crease them when I saw your feed. ”
This is similar to a few other requests that I have had where the focus was on increasing X-Y-Z and not decreasing A-B-C/
In this post I will give a template of how to answer the above question. My focus is on reducing high genus for two reasons:
- Easiest path for the CFS Brain-Fogged person to understand
- IMHO, the most likely way to get a low level up is by eliminating what is killing them!
Use Data Punk to kick start things
Go to DataPunk.Net and see what bacteria inhibits them, feed them. In some cases, you may have to click up from species to strains to find information.
butyrivibrio crossotus
INHIBITED BY
ENHANCED BY
akkermansia muciniphilia
INHIBITED BY
ENHANCED BY
- Fasting
- Grapes (table)
- Heme [parent]
- Metformin [parent]
- Low processed foods diet [parent]
- Cranberry bean flour [parent]
- Polysorbate 80
- Grapes (table) [parent]
- Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)
- Rhubarb [parent]
- Pomegranate ellagitannins [parent]
- Lingonberries [parent]
- Resveratrol [parent]
- Green tea [parent]
- Cranberry polyphenols [parent]
- Daesiho-tang (DSHT) [parent]
- High protein diet [parent]
- Melatonin [parent]
Also see
- Akkermansia: https://cfsremission.wordpress.com/2017/10/14/decreasing-akkermansia-genus/ where you will see these in the Avoid-to-Decrease, but you want Take-To-Increase
- Lactobacillus fermentum
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus
- Akkenmansia muciniphila probiotic (may be available in Europe soon)
- And no Omega-3
methanobrevibacter smithii.
INHIBITED BY
So we can assemble a list of things to exclude or include in your diet.
Exclude: Flaxseed, Statins, Bile , Lauric acid, Myristic acid, High FODMAP diet, Omega-3
Take:
- Lactobacillus fermentum
- Lactobacillus rhamnosus
- Akkenmansia muciniphila probiotic (may be available in Europe soon)
- Walnuts
- Saccharomyces boulardii
- Fasting
- Grapes (table)
- Heme
- Metformin
- Low processed foods diet
- Cranberry bean flour
- Polysorbate 80
- Grapes (table)
- Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)
- Rhubarb
- Pomegranate ellagitannins
- Lingonberries
- Resveratrol
- Green tea
- Cranberry polyphenols
- Daesiho-tang (DSHT)
- High protein diet
- Melatonin
The bacteria genus that will suppress
If a farmer ask how too grow more corn and complains that the yield seems low, it may be worthwhile to see if birds, rodents, etc are stealing the seeds. Below are the list of bacteria that are known to inhibit above. If you have overgrowth in any of these, you should attempt to reduce it!
Bottom Line
For undergrowth of Lactobacillus, Bifidobacteriums and E.Coli see this post:
To Treating Physicians – The Microbiome Approach to CFS/FM/IBS
