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Writer's pictureChandra Lake

DOLICHOL, AGING and COVID-19: Hijack of the century!

Updated: Oct 24, 2020

It's time to make lowering your cholesterol a PRIORITY!




It's Wednesday and I hope you don't mind if I ramble about science for a bit! There's some information that has had me scratching my head since this pandemic took over. That is, why is this virus, COVID-19, more attracted and mortal to the elderly, obese, males and people with underlying heart conditions? What I've discovered has had a pretty significant impact on my knowledge around our susceptibility to infection. Listen for a moment to my theory. There is a substance that increases in concentration with age, is widely distributed within the cell, tissues and organelles, and may correlate with the amount of cholesterol in the blood, which is a significant risk factor for heart disease. This substance is called DOLICHOL.


Dolichol is among the largest lipids in the cell. There are several reasons why my interest concerning this molecule has been peaked. First, dolichol has been described by Parentini et. al. as meeting the criteria to be defined as a biomarker for aging. For our elementary purposes, the researchers suggest that the levels of dolichol relate directly to age in all tissues and are not changed by several age-dependent diseases in the same direction as that of aging and, secondly, it's accumulation is due to metabolic changes of aging.(1) Secondly, low-density proteins (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol, is a transporter of dolichol in the bloodstream, in addition to being associated with the accumulation of dolichol intermediates during aging and certain diseases.(3) Thirdly, a study involving the daily use of anabolic androgenic steroid use decreased serum dolichol levels and increased ubiquionone levels.(4) For the record, steroids have been used in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. Finally, the connection in this whole labyrinth, is that, DOLICHOL, is a substrate for n-linked glycosylation. (5) As you know viruses do not have their own machinery to replicate and reproduce on their own, they exploit host-cell machinery to glycosylate their own proteins during replication, thus, utilizing n-linked glycosylation for important biological functions. (6) I propose that in decreasing this substrate , dolichol through cholesterol reduction, naturally and organically, we can decrease the opportunistic exploits of this virus from gaining entry and wreaking havoc in our bodies.


We welcome your scientific feedback. Please leave a comment with your thoughts and commentary.


Stay Healthy and Stay Safe,

Chandra Nicole


 


 

Natural Products

Many products out there promise the benefit of lowering cholesterol through the use of red yeast rice products. I would suggest that in your selection, especially if you are not currently taking a statin medication, that you do your research to make sure that the product, also has liver protection, such as those that cleanse and protect the liver, as monocol K, and many of these medications cause liver damage in some people. Take a look at CHOLESLO*, a product I have been reviewing and researching, and see if it is a good fit for you. Leave a review and let me know your thoughts. I want to hear from you!



 

* As with all information, products & services, results are not guaranteed and will vary from one individual to another. It’s unknown if the presence of an ingredient will impede the efficiency of another. Please consult with your doctor. Statements made, or products sold through this web site, have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration They are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

 

References

1. Parentini I, Cavallini G, Donati A, Gori Z, Bergamini E. Accumulation of dolichol in older tissues satisfies the proposed criteria to be qualified a biomarker of aging. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2005;60(1):39-43. doi:10.1093/gerona/60.1.391.


2. Shiota Y, Kiyota K, Kobayashi T, et al. Distribution of dolichol in the serum and relationships between serum dolichol levels and various laboratory test values. Biol Pharm Bull. 2008;31(3):340-347. doi:10.1248/bpb.31.340


3. Rip JW, Blais MM, Jiang LW. Low-density lipoprotein as a transporter of dolichol intermediates in the mammalian circulation. Biochem J. 1994;297 ( Pt 2)(Pt 2):321-325. doi:10.1042/bj2970321


4. Karila T, Laaksonen R, Jokelainen K, Himberg JJ, Seppälä T. The effects of anabolic androgenic steroids on serum ubiquinone and dolichol levels among steroid abusers. Metabolism. 1996;45(7):844-847. doi:10.1016/s0026-0495(96)90157-2


5. Burda P, Aebi M. The dolichol pathway of N-linked glycosylation. BBA - General Subjects. 1999;1426(2):239-257. doi:10.1016/S0304-4165(98)00127-5.

6. Watanabe Y, Bowden TA , Ian A. Wilson IA, Crispina M. Exploitation of glycosylation in enveloped virus pathobiology. BBA - General Subjects. 2019;1863(10): 1480-1497


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