MINNEAPOLIS—D-ribose (as Bioenergy RIBOSE®, from Bioenergy Life Science), a simple, five-carbon sugar, may be an option for addressing heart disease, according to researchers from Bioenergy who have reviewed research on cardiac function.
A recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine (356:11, 2007) called attention to the important underlying metabolic problem in patients with heart failure, describing the failing heart as an “engine out of fuel”. Commenting on the study, John St. Cyr, M. D., medical director of Bioenergy Life Science, said: “D-ribose could aid in this metabolic deficiency. When heart failure develops, many factors are involved, but energy deprivation is among the most important. We’ve learned recently that patients with heart disease may have a deficient supply of high energy compounds. Past studies have demonstrated that D-ribose supplementation enhances the return of ATP levels with an associated improvement in diastolic function”. Studies conducted by Heyder Omran, M.D., showed ribose improved diastolic heart function, exercise tolerance and quality of life in patients with congestive heart failure (Eur J Heart Failure 5:615-619, 2003). And a recent study determined that ribose administration after a heart attack (myocaridal infarction) preserved the function of the remote myocardium (i.e., the heart tissue surrounding the zone of the heart attack) and delayed the onset of heart failure (Surg Res 137, 2:156, 2007).
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