Collagen Type 2 (hyaluronan-colagen) Hyaluronic Acid - Biocell II

Collagen Type II Shown to Support Skin Health and Joint Strength - Page 1
Reprinted by permission from Pat Whittington of Vitamin Research

by James South, M.A. Aging is the common lot of all humanity.  We are born, we live, we get older and we die.  Yet, some people age slowly, gracefully and healthfully, while others age rapidly, with accompanying pain and debility. Many factors contribute to our rate of aging:  our genes, our hormone levels, our diet and exercise patterns, drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, etc.  Two extremes of aging are presented by progeriacs and the people of Yuzurihara, Japan. Progeria is a disorder that usually appears between birth and 18 months of age.  It involves extremely accelerated aging.  Progeriac children are bald, heavily wrinkled, have cataracts and usually die by the age of 12 or 13.1

The residents of Yuzurihara are extremely long-lived and show little skin wrinkling, even in old age.  There are 10 times more people 80 and older in Yuzurihara than any community in the United States and they usually are free of typical age-related diseases and live active lives.1

Surprisingly, there is a specific connection between the accelerated aging of progeria and the exceptional longevity of the Yuzuriharans.  Children with progeria excrete up to 17 times more hyaluronic acid (hyaluronan, or HA) in their urine than normal children.1  The residents of Yuzurihara, through their unique diet, maintain high, youthful levels of HA throughout their long and healthy lives.1

Hyaluronan
Hyaluronan (HA) is a long chain molecule that consists of alternating units of N-acetyl-glucosamine and glucuronic acid.2  Its molecular weight may range from 50,000 to 4 million Daltons.  HA can absorb up to 3,000 times its weight in water and is an important hydrating agent for tissue.2

HA is found in virtually all tissues and fluids of the body, especially in synovial (joint) fluid, the eyes vitreous fluid and in skin.2  HA plays a critical role in maintaining healthy joint synovial fluid and preventing the degeneration of aging joints.  HA has high daily turnover, so large amounts may be needed to maintain normal steady-state levels. HA is also a regulatory molecule influencing cell movement, phagocytosis and blood vessel formation.2  Hyaluronic acid also serves as a free radical scavenger and antioxidant, and may be particularly important to protect the skin from the aging effects of excessive sunlight exposure.2  HA is critically involved in healthy wound healing.2  HA stimulates DNA synthesis and fibroblast cell division, essential for healthy skin and cartilage maintenance.3  By the time a person reaches age 30, his or her HA becomes disorganized from skin collagen protein, compared to the interweaving of HA and skin collagen in a nine-year-old, and is even more disconnected in the skin of 60-year-olds.4

Hyaluronan & Type II Collagen
Given the importance of HA for healthy skin and joints, its high turnover and normal decrease with aging, an effective, absorbable source of HA is highly desirable.  Fortunately, a bioavailable source of HA is now available: chicken sternum type II collagen.

BioCell Technologies has developed a patented, purified, enzymatically hydrolyzed (partially digested) type II collagen supplement, derived from the sternum (breastbone) of young chickens.  This product provides at least 10 percent by weight of a low molecular weight HA, which is highly absorbable.

Native collagen, which has not been predigested, also provides HA, but in the form of giant molecules that are too large for absorption.  BioCell's collagen molecules have a typical molecular weight of only 1,500 to 2,500 Daltons, and thus are easy for the body to absorb.

In February 2004 Dr. William Judy, senior scientist at SIBR Research, announced the results of a double blind clinical study with Collagen Type II.  In a 36-hour peak absorption study using a single dose, Collagen Type II HA significantly increased in the blood at four hours after ingestion, and peaked at a level 7,000 percent above the placebo controls levels in 12 hours.  In a 28-day steady state bioavailability study using a constant daily dose, after seven days the Collagen Type II HA levels became stabilized and remained so throughout the study at a level 3,543 percent higher than controls.  Thus, regular use of Collagen Type II can be expected to provide a significant dose of hyaluronic acid to supplement the age-declining tissue levels of HA typical of most people.

Type II Collagen
The benefits of type II collagen does not stop with HA.  Type II collagen, the collagen that makes up moveable joints, also provides a high level (typically 20 percent) of chondroitin sulfate (CS).  CS is one of six glycosaminoglycans (GAG) that help form the connective tissue of skin, tendons, cartilage, ligaments and bone matrix.5  CS is the most abundant GAG in the body.5  Partially depolymerized (i.e., shortened chain length) CS is an effective anti-inflammatory compound.6

CS also enhances the synthesis of HA and cartilage proteoglycans in osteoarthritis patients, improving the quality of their joint tissue.6  Chondroitin sulfate also inhibits enzymes such as collagenase, elastase and proteoglycanase that become overactive in joint degeneration and skin aging, destroying cartilage and connective tissue.6

Type II collagen also contains cartilage matrix glycoprotein (CMGP).  CMGP enhances the antioxidant protection within joints by carrying the essential trace mineral copper to the chondrocytes.  Chondrocytes are small cells interspersed within the cartilage matrix of joints.  The chondrocytes produce new collagen and mucopolysaccharides to keep joints well cushioned and lubricated.

The chondrocytes also produce and secrete copper SOD (superoxide dismutase), a free radical-destroying enzyme that is critical to protect joint tissue from the free radical damage that occurs as part of the process of joint degeneration.7

Duarte notes that various components of hydrolyzed type II collagen have multiple protective benefits.  Collagen II components 1) resist cartilage protein digesting enzymes; 2) reprogram destructive chondrocytes to lessen inflammation; 3) promote new cartilage and proteoglycon synthesis; 4) enhance production of hyaluronic acid, producing a thick, effective, lubricating synovial fluid that protects and cushions joints; 5) protect the surface of cartilage from oxidative (free radical) damage and enzymatic digestion; and 6) act as powerful anti-inflammatory/pain modulators.7

Collagen Type II also provides 60 percent collagen protein.  Collagen protein is unique in containing the amino acids hydroxylysine and hydroxyproline.  In a study using hydrolyzed collagen, the subjects receiving collagen had significantly higher blood levels of hydroxyproline than those receiving placebo.10  As Moskowitz notes:  The positive effect of the oral administration of [hydrolyzed collagen] on skin and organs attached to the skin has been observed for some time.  These positive effects include improvement in nail quality -- an effect on positive properties of hair and nail growth.  And, in veterinary studies, improvement in hair and hoof quality and growth.10

Ingredients/Dose | Page 2 and References

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