Luteolin is a naturally occurring compound found in foods including parsley, artichoke leaves, celery, peppers, olive oil, rosemary, lemons, peppermint, sage, thyme, and many others.
Luteolin has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, anticancer, and immune-modulating properties to suppress hyperactive immune systems.*
Luteolin is a potent hypoglycemic agent and improves insulin sensitivity.* Luteolin may help promote healthy blood glucose levels and help in weight management for Syndrome X.*
Free Radicals
Free radicals are highly reactive chemicals produced in our bodies that indiscriminately attack and destroy tissue causing aging, inflammation, allergies, disease, and disrupt organ and enzyme function.
Oxidative stressis a condition that arises when our cells cannot adequately destroy the free radicals we make as a normal byproduct of metabolism and cellular processes. We make more free radicals during periods of exercise, physical and emotional stress. Oxidative stress also results from exposure to toxic chemicals such as smoke, hydrocarbons, pesticides, and smog as well as prescription drugs and alcohol.
As a normal part of our metabolism, carbohydrates are converted to glucose and glucose is then converted into ATP. ATP is the universal energy molecule in our bodies. The byproduct of ATP synthesis is Superoxide. In glucose metabolism, oxygen becomes superoxide when an electron is accepted by oxygen to make the ATP. Superoxide is a highly toxic chemical and is normally converted in the mitochondria by the essential enzyme superoxide dismutase (SOD) into H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide), which is then rapidly transformed into water and oxygen by the enzyme catalase (CAT). Hydrogen peroxide is also highly toxic to tissue and forms the hydroxyl radical (.OH), one of the most reactive chemical species known to man. SOD is so essential, if the SOD encoding gene is damaged or mutated, ALS or Lou Gehrig's Disease develops. As we age, the efficiency of both superoxide dismutase and catalyze enzyme systems decrease and then free radicals rise to dangerous levels.
Superoxide, the hydroxyl radical, and other reactive oxygen species are dangerous because they rob electrons indiscriminately from tissues near their site of formation. When free radicals create oxidative stress that is unchecked, ALS, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), Lupus, and Alzheimer's Disease may develop. It is therefore essential to protect our cells from the damaging effects of free radicals that mediate these diseases.
When free radicals react with blood lipids such as low-density lipoprotein, lipid peroxidation takes place and the lipids begin to stick together and to the walls of arteries forming plaques called atherosclerosis. Further tissue damage and inflammation by free radicals can then lead to a heart attack or stroke.
Antioxidants combat free radicals by giving up the electron they would otherwise rob from nearby tissues. Well known antioxidants include Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Beta Carotene. The antioxidant Luteolin is two times stronger than Vitamin C and E also functions synergistically in the body to restore spent Vitamin C levels which in turn regenerate Vitamin E.*
Maintaining a constant level of Luteolin in the body supports health by providing strong antioxidant protection from oxidative stress and the diseases caused thereby.*
Inflamation
Inflammation is the body’s first response to damage and infection. However, in many diseases, chronic and excessive inflammation exist and continue to cause pain and tissue damage preventing the body from healing. Luteolin has been shown to completely reverse the improper immune regulation of inflammation in the brain (microglia) evidenced by numerous medical publications.* Recently it was shown that it is not only a single pathway that is affected by Luteolin, but over 50 inflammatory genes that turned off and over 100 healing genes that are turned on.* No other drug or dietary compound known to man does this.*
Clinical Conclusions: |
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Our findings confirm the inhibitory effects of luteolin on pro-inflammatory cytokine expression in microglia. Moreover, our transcriptomic data suggest that this flavonoid is a potent modulator of microglial activation and affects several signaling pathways leading to a unique phenotype with anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, and neuroprotective characteristics. With the identification of several novel luteolin-regulated genes, our findings provide a molecular basis to understand the versatile effects of luteolin on microglial homeostasis. The data also suggest that luteolin could be a promising candidate to develop immuno-modulatory and neuroprotective therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. |
http://www.jneuroinflammation.com/content/pdf/1742-2094-7-3.pdf |
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Luteolin is a potent anti-inflammatory compound that inhibits the over-production and synthesis of TNF-alpha, prostaglandins, leukotrienes, histamine, and interleukins, thereby helping to prevent the negative effects of allergies, inflammation, and overproduction of free radicals.* |