The Vitamin Professor

Gene Bruno, MS, MHS, RH(AHG) is a 45-year veteran of the dietary supplement industry, and for 20 of those years he served as Professor of Nutraceutical Science at Huntington University of Health Sciences. He now serves as Chief Scientific Officer for Nutraland USA. As “The Vitamin Professor”, Gene will share the most recent research on nutraceuticals in this free bimonthly newsletter. Make sure to subscribe.

This issue of The Vitamin Professor will review research on creatine for firefighters, fisetin for inhibiting UVA-induced cell damage, and micronutrient decline during pregnancy.

Creatine and occupational performance in firefighters

Past research[1] [2] has demonstrated that strength-training men using a combination of whey protein plus creatine monohydrate gained more lean muscle tissue compared to whey protein alone or placebo and had a greater increase in bench press strength compared to whey protein alone or placebo (7-8%). However, it’s not only bodybuilders who can benefit from this combination. In a recent randomized, double-blind study[3], thirty male firefighters received either (A.) 25 g of whey protein isolate + 25 g of carbohydrate powder (ProCarb group); or (B.) ProCarb + 5 g of creatine monohydrate (Creatine group) in a double-blind fashion over a period of 21–26 days to evaluate the impact on occupation-specific performance. Results were that there was a significant main effect for time observed for rescue, stair climb, total time to completion, and time trial performance (p?< 0.05). he Creatine group experienced a greater reduction (from baseline) in completion time for the rescue (p?= 0.004) and forcible entry (p?= 0.01) tests compared to the ProCarb group. In conclusion, the addition of supplemental creatine to a protein and carbohydrate supplement to the diet of career firefighters throughout a three-week period improved occupational performance in firefighters in specific areas of high-intensity, repetitive actions.

Fisetin and UVA-induced cell damage

Fisetin is a flavonoid found in plants and has been reported to be effective for various purposes in human health and wellness, including increasing cellular lifespan[4] and functions as a relatively powerful antioxidant[5]. Research has also suggested that fisetin can reduce ultraviolet-A (UVA)-mediated skin damage. A recent in-vitro study[6] investigated the protective mechanisms of fisetin regarding UVA-induced human dermal fibroblasts (HDFs) and human epidermal keratinocytes (HEKs) damage. Results showed that fisetin had a cytoprotective effect against UVA irradiation and suppressed matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), MMP-1, and MMP-3 expression (i.e., MMPs are markers for cellular damage). In addition, fisetin decreased mRNA levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, reactive oxygen species production. Fisetin may represent an effective nutraceutical for helping to reduce cellular UVA-induced cellular damage.

Prenatal multivitamin and micronutrient decline during pregnancy

Arguably, the most critical times for maintaining healthy nutrient status in the body is during preconception and pregnancy, since this has important consequences for pregnancy outcome and offspring development. Certainly, the use of prenatal multivitamin supplements can do much to help assure an adequate intake of critical nutrients—but that all depends upon the prenatal multivitamin supplement. The randomized, double-blind, controlled NiPPeR trial[7] studied patterns of maternal vitamin status from preconception, through early and late pregnancy, to 6 months postdelivery to determine the influence of vitamin supplementation. This included 1,729 women from the United Kingdom, Singapore, and New Zealand). The women received either a standard vitamin supplement (control; n = 859) or an enhanced vitamin supplement (intervention; n = 870) starting in preconception and continued throughout pregnancy. Supplement micronutrients common to both treatment groups included folic acid, β-carotene, iron, calcium, and iodine. The additional micronutrients and nutraceuticals included in the intervention group were riboflavin, vitamins B6, B12, myo-inositol, probiotics, and zinc. At recruitment, the proportion of women with marginal or low plasma status was 29.2% for folate, 7.5% (marginal) and 82.0% (low) for riboflavin, 9.1% for vitamin B12, and 48.7% for vitamin D; these proportions were balanced between the groups. Over 90% of all participants had low or marginal status for one or more of these vitamins at recruitment.

Results were that among participants in the control group, plasma concentrations of riboflavin declined through early and late pregnancy, whereas concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were unchanged in early pregnancy, and concentrations of vitamin B6 and B12 declined throughout pregnancy, becoming lower than baseline by 28 weeks gestation. In the control group, 54.2% of participants developed low late-pregnancy vitamin B6 concentrations (pyridoxal 5-phosphate <20 nmol/L). After 1 month of supplementation, plasma concentrations of supplement components were substantially higher among participants in the intervention group than those in the control group: riboflavin (p<0.0001), vitamin B6 (p<0.0001), vitamin B12 (p<0.0001), and vitamin D (p<0.0001), with higher levels in the intervention group maintained during pregnancy. Markers of vitamin insufficiency/deficiency were reduced in the intervention group, and the proportion of participants with vitamin D insufficiency during late pregnancy was lower in the intervention group (35.1% versus 8.5%; p < 0.0001). Plasma vitamin B12 remained higher in the intervention group than in the control group 6 months postdelivery (p=0.0003). In conclusion, over 90% of the trial participants had marginal or low concentrations of one or more of folate, riboflavin, vitamin B12, or vitamin D during preconception, and many developed markers of vitamin B6 deficiency in late pregnancy. Prenatal multivitamin supplements during preconception/pregnancy in amounts available in over-the-counter supplements substantially reduces the prevalence of vitamin deficiency and depletion markers before and during pregnancy, with higher maternal plasma vitamin B12 maintained during the recommended lactational period—although it is important that the prenatal multivitamin supplement provide a complete profile of critical micronutrients.

Note: The information presented in this article is for educational purposes only. It does not constitute recommendations for structure/function claims.

You can contact Gene at [email protected]. To learn about Nutraland USA’s clean, plant-based and sustainable branded ingredients supported by science, call 949-988-7615.

References

[1] Burke DG, Chilibeck PD, Davison KS, et al. The effect of whey protein supplementation with and without creatine monohydrate combined with resistance training on lean tissue mass and muscle strength. Int J Sport Nutr Exer Metab. 2001;11:349-64.

[2] Cribb PJ, Williams AD, Stathis CG, Carey MF, Hayes A. Effects of whey isolate, creatine, and resistance training on muscle hypertrophy. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 Feb;39(2):298-307.

[3] Elstad K, Malone C, Luedke J, Jaime SJ, Dobbs WC, Almonroeder T, Kerksick CM, Markert A, Jagim AR. The Effects of Protein and Carbohydrate Supplementation, with and without Creatine, on Occupational Performance in Firefighters.?Nutrients. 2023; 15(24):5134.

[4] Yousefzadeh M.J., Zhu Y., McGowan S.J., Angelini L., Fuhrmann-Stroissnigg H., Xu M., Ling Y.Y., Melos K.I., Pirtskhalava T., Inman C.L., et al. Fisetin is a senotherapeutic that extends health and lifespan.?EBioMedicine.?2018;36:18–28.

[5] Khan N, Syed DN, Ahmad N, Mukhtar H. Fisetin: a dietary antioxidant for health promotion. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2013 Jul 10;19(2):151-62.

[6] Jang HY, Kim GB, Kim JM, Kang SY, Youn HJ, Park J, Ro SY, Chung EY, Park KH, Kim JS. Fisetin Inhibits UVA-Induced Expression of MMP-1 and MMP-3 through the NOX/ROS/MAPK Pathway in Human Dermal Fibroblasts and Human Epidermal Keratinocytes. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Dec 11;24(24):17358.

[7] Godfrey KM, Titcombe P, El-Heis S, Albert BB, Tham EH, Barton SJ, Kenealy T, Chong MF, Nield H, Chong YS, Chan SY, Cutfield WS; NiPPeR Study Group. Maternal B-vitamin and vitamin D status before, during, and after pregnancy and the influence of supplementation preconception and during pregnancy: Prespecified secondary analysis of the NiPPeR double-blind randomized controlled trial. PLoS Med. 2023 Dec 5;20(12):e1004260.