Dr. Francisco Villarreal: A conversation on the discovery of the mechanisms of action of epicatechin in mitochondria
Dr. Francisco Villarreal, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine in Cardiology & Endocrinology University of California at San Diego. He is also a Research Scientist at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Dr. Villarreal has published more than 130 peer-reviewed papers. He is co-founder, Blue Oak Nutraceuticals Mexico.
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How did the research of -(-) epicatechin begin with you, Dr. Sundeep Dugar, and Dr. Guillermo Cellabos?
Dr. Villarreal – It was approximately 15 – 16 years ago that I ran into some published literature on the effects of cocoa and the history of it, which indicated that some elements of the cocoa could potentially exert very potent effects on various systems that lead to, or contribute to the development of conditions and, maybe, diseases.
It became apparent that epicatechin was central to those effects. We implemented a series of studies in models of either dysfunction, or some models of diseases, where we were able to demonstrate that there were some very effective capacities of epicatechin to protect organs, to stimulate organs, and to recover systems.
As this became readily apparent, we were very encouraged as we started our work to keep on going and exploring more of its promises as to its ability to do that, not only the impact on organs like the heart and blood vessels, but eventually in other organs like skeletal muscle, kidney, the brain, etc.
It’s been a pleasure to be part of this collaborative team that came together fortuitously in which several of the scientists that are part of Blue Oak Nutraceuticals initiated the studies, funded the studies, and moved forward the area in a way that we’ve been able to publish a significant amount of work, about 64 scientific articles including studies using chemistry use in cell culture. You’re seeing models of various diseases and then doing some clinical studies in humans where we have been able to explore some of the beneficial effects of epicatechin on human subjects.
It’s been quite a quite a history and it’s been a pleasure to be able to work with the team, and being able to propel forward this area of science.
Tell us how have you and the team understood the mechanisms of action of epicatechin
Dr. Villarreal – When we launched our research, about 15 – 16 years ago, there was some evidence that it had some ability to act on certain cells, organs, or systems. And so the first characterization that we explored was that of its ability to lead to beneficial effects on blood vessels.
For example, with a model of aging blood vessels, we could actually expose those blood vessels to epicatechin and restore them to a younger profile. And so this comes from working with the molecule, or a response that in the blood vessel is very closely associated with the healthy effects of exercise.
It was very interesting to make a correlation between the type of effects that epicatechin can trigger, which are quite similar to the effects that exercise triggers. That was some of the original work that we did. Later on, it became also apparent that the beneficial effects of epicatechin taken on systems and organs, for example, heart and skeletal muscle to make them stronger came from the fact that it appeared to protect and stimulate what we call the mitochondria.
Mitochondria are the power houses of cells. They transform the food that we eat into energy. And so it was apparent that epicatechin can, number one, protect mitochondria when they are being stressed, and also stimulate mitochondria when it’s needed, and increase the number of mitochondria.
That was an interesting, very interesting mechanism in which we’ve been able to produce a significant amount of research and work again in cell culture models and other models including demonstrating these actions in human subjects.
As we age, we develop an inflammatory status or for example, if there’s some sort of heart disease, inflammation is also typically part of the problem associated with that particular disease. Epicatechin appears to be able to stimulate mitochondria in a healthy way that reduces the levels of oxidative stress and free radicals, which leads to less inflammation.
The strong axis of action of epicatechin are blood vessel health, mitochondria health, reduced oxidative stress, and reduced inflammation.
When you put all of these together, it becomes quite an impactful mechanism of action to better conditions that we are frequently exposed to as humans, as we age or as we become ill.
Can you tell us more about areas that epicatechin has impact or efficacy?
Dr. Villarreal – I mentioned that what happens is obviously your blood vessels are everywhere in our body including the brain, skeletal muscle, bone, skin, you name it, blood vessels are there. And the same for mitochondria. Mitochondria are present in all cells and all tissues.
So what’s so interesting about the ability of epicatechin to improve the health of multiple tissues and organs is because it improves the healthy status of blood vessels. And if you have blood vessel problems in your heart or muscles or in your kidneys, that’s going to translate into an improved condition. This improved situation is going to benefit your health.
As there’s also mitochondria and all tissues and organs, then if you are able to take epicatechin, it’s going to be able to beneficially impact the health status of your skeletal muscle, your skin, your heart, your kidneys, your liver. So, it’s sort of like a global effect.
Going back to what I was mentioning before about exercise: exercise is recognized as medicine. Unfortunately, many of us cannot exercise because we’re too old or or maybe we are too weak. But, you know, epicatechin seems to be able to deliver these healthy effects on these systems which translate improvements into the health status of organs.
And, ultimately this can be very useful to improve your overall health.