Phosphatidylserine (PS) is a type of phospholipid, which is a general term for a class of lipids containing phosphate. There are many members of the phospholipid family, including phosphatidylcholine (commonly known as phosphatidylcholine PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (commonly known as phosphatidylcholine PE), phosphatidylinositol (commonly known as phosphatidylcholine PI), phosphatidylserine (PS), phosphatidic acid (PA), phosphatidylglycerol (PG), etc, Natural phospholipids, as one of the fundamental substances of life, play a very important role in the composition of cell membranes and the band of functional substances.
Phosphatidylserine (PS) was first extracted and characterized by Jordi Folch in 1942, and its chemical structure was elucidated by Baer and Maurukas in 1952, which was confirmed through chemical synthesis. PS is an important component of the human brain nervous system, and the human brain is the organ with the most abundant content of PS, accounting for about 18% of all phospholipids in the human brain. Compared to other phospholipids, PS is the only negatively charged cytoplasmic membrane phospholipid, and this special property determines its important function: to form specific anchor points on the inner membrane of nerve cells. These anchor points are necessary for nerve cells to perform normal functions. In addition, PS is also the only phospholipid that can regulate the functional state of key cell membrane proteins.
Figure 1 % of PS in Human Tissues
With the deepening of research on PS, there have been extensive reports on its pharmacology and clinical research. Overall, PS has the following two main functions.
1.Repair brain damage and improve cognitive ability
PS is one of the main components of the brain's nerves, which can nourish and activate the activity of various enzymes in the brain, delay the process of reducing neurotransmitters, help repair and update damaged brain cells, and eliminate harmful substances.
Suzuki S et al. investigated the Morris underwater maze escape test of elderly rats with memory impairment. After feeding soybean phosphatidylserine (SB-tPS) synthesized by transphosphorylation for 60 days, the results showed a significant improvement in the behavior of male adult rats. The experiment also found that PS products can promote the release of acetylcholine and the activity of Na+/K+- ATPase, as acetylcholine accumulates in the brain, The speed of information transmission between nerve cells in the brain accelerates, thereby promoting brain function, enhancing memory, thinking, and analytical abilities.
Tang Yong, Zhang Qianyong, and others studied high school students aged 17 to 18 and conducted research on the addition of 0 Fresh milk with a purity of 08% and 50% phosphatidylserine has an improvement effect on human memory. The results indicate that the addition of PS to milk has a significant improvement and enhancement effect on students' memory.
Delwaide PJ et al. first reported in 1986 that PS products can improve patients' cognitive abilities. Subsequently, multiple double blind and placebo controlled studies in Europe and America confirmed the efficacy of PS. According to Dr. Parris M. Kidd's summary of double blind PS clinical trials, Crook T et al. studied 51 AD patients who received PS or placebo for 12 weeks (100mg, 3 times a day) and found that patients who received PS products improved their cognitive abilities in several aspects, while the control group did not. Another double-blind study, using placebo as a control, showed that after taking 300mg of PS daily for 3-12 weeks in early Alzheimer's disease patients, the results showed a mild improvement in Cenacchi T et al. [A clinical trial involving 494 elderly dementia patients more fully demonstrated that PS as an anti dementia drug can improve behavior and cognitive performance without significant side effects]. EngelRR conducted a double-blind experiment involving 33 patients with mild primary degenerative dementia who took 300mg of PS or placebo daily for 8 weeks. The results showed that most patients who took PS had a higher clinical comprehensive impression level than those who took placebo, and the fractal intensity of 16 channel EEG signals tended to normal, indicating an improvement in their condition.
2. Release tension and depression, relieve physical fatigue
PS can promote the release of these four main neurotransmitters - serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, and acetylcholine, thereby accelerating communication between brain cells, significantly reducing the excessive levels of stress hormones in people with work stress, reducing stress, alleviating brain fatigue, promoting concentration, improving alertness and memory, and alleviating negative emotions.
Drago F et al. found that suppressing depression caused an increase in body temperature in elderly mice, and it took less time to restore normal body temperature after injection of PS compared to the control group, indicating that PS can enhance self-protection in elderly mice in emergency situations. Koutoku T injected PS into the chicks using intraventricular injection and placed them back in their original cages. After 10 minutes, the chicks were isolated in plastic cages. It turned out to have been injected with 160 μ The number of vocalizations in the g PS group was significantly lower than that in the blank group, and the spontaneous activity was also slightly lower than that in the blank group. It can be inferred that PS can alleviate the tension and depression induced by isolation.
Hellhammer J conducted a social stress test on 20 subjects using a mixture of soybean phospholipid acid (PA) and PS (PAS). It was found that the serum levels of adrenaline and cortisone in the subjects who took PAS (dosage 400mg · d-1) for 3 weeks were significantly inhibited, and their physical tension was significantly relieved without affecting heart rate changes.
At the same time, there are also some research reports on the ability of PS sports training to increase muscle and strength, as well as improve human training stress levels. In a double-blind controlled experiment, one group of participants took 800 mg of PS per day and the other group received the same dose of placebo. After 10 days, the two groups underwent the same high-intensity training, and then the blood cortisol concentration of the two groups of participants was measured. The results showed that the cortisol levels in the control group were significantly higher than before training, while the cortisol concentration in the PS group was controlled at a lower level. Cortisol, on the other hand, is a hormone that antagonizes the action of testosterone and has a decomposing effect. It generally increases significantly after high-intensity training, extreme fatigue, or overtraining; At this point, the body's catabolism is greater than its anabolism, accelerating the breakdown of muscle proteins and causing weight loss; If it can effectively inhibit the growth of cortisol during athletes' intensive training, it will create a good hormone environment for improving training performance. Researchers speculate that the role of PS may be involved in the response process of the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal axis (hormone feedback system) to stress. Recently, there have been reports that PS can also promote the secretion of endogenous testosterone in the human body. Phosphatidyl serine will be a potential sports nutrient enhancer with great development potential.
In terms of regulations, in May 2006, the Korean Food and Drug Administration (KFDA) allowed the addition of PS to products, highlighting PS and promoting its functions such as "improving negative emotions, enhancing memory, and preventing Alzheimer's disease"; In October 2006, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved PS GRAS (Genearly Recognized As Safe), which means that PS can be added as a nutritional fortification functional food ingredient in foods such as yogurt, milk powder, bread, and solid drinks, and PS is also the only functional ingredient with cognitive health claims recognized by the FDA; In October 2009, the European Union listed PS from soybean sources as a new food ingredient (New Food); On February 5, 2010, it passed the individual review of Japanese food additives; On October 12, 2010, the former Ministry of Health of China (now the Health Commission) added PS to the list of new food ingredients (new resources) (Announcement No. 15, 2010), allowing it to be used as a new food ingredient with a prescribed dosage of ≤ 600mg/d.
With people's further attention to health, PS will receive more and more attention. The development and application of terminal products containing PS are currently in full bloom. PS, due to its functions such as repairing brain damage, improving cognitive ability, and suppressing stress, will undoubtedly set off a new wave in the field of general health.
Focusee Biotechnology specializes in providing phospholipid related products and services, and its core products include soybean PS/sunflower PS/PC, etc
References
[1] Suzuki S，et al. Oral administration of soybean lecithin transphosphatidylated phosphatidyl - serine improves memory impairment in aged rats. J Nutr. 2001 Nov; 131(11): 2951~2956
[2]Tang Yong, Zhang Qianyong，et al. A trial study on enhancing memory with pure milk fortified with phosphatidylserine [J] Chongqing Medical Journal, 2011, 40 (30): 3022-3026
[3]Delwaide PJ. Double-blind randomized controlled study of phosphatidylserine in senile demented patients〔J〕. Acta Neurol Scand，1986，73(2) : 136-140.
[4]Crook TH，Tink lengerg J，Yesavage J，et al. Effects of phosphatidylserine in Alzheimer’s disease〔J〕. Psychopharmacl Bull，1992，28 (1) : 61-66.
[5]Cenacchi T. Cognitive decline in the elderly: a double-blind，placebocontrolled multicenter study on efficacy of phosphatidylserine administration〔J〕. Aging ( Milano) ，1993，5 (2) : 123-133.
[6]Drago F，Spadaro F，Agata VD，et al. Protective action of phosphatidylserine on stress-induced behavioral and autonomic changes in aged rats〔J〕. Neurobiology of Aging，1991，12(5) : 437-440.
[7]Koutoku T，Takahashi! H，Tomonaga S，et al. Central administration of phosphatidylserine attenuates isolation stress-induced behavior in chicks〔J〕. Neurochemistry international，2005，47(3) : 183-189.
[8]Hellhammer J. Effects of soy lecithin phosphatidic acid and phosphatidylserine complex (PAS) on the endocrine and psychological responses to mental stress〔J〕. Stress，2004，7 (2) : 119-126.