Popular dietary supplement clears plaque from blood vessels
Manganese has been shown to break down plaques in the blood vessels of mice and prevent them from forming.Researchers may have just found a way to clean up the circulatory system using a common nutrient found in many foods. The nutrient in question is manganese.
It is a metallic element with an atomic symbol of 25. It is important for human health by helping carbohydrate and fat metabolism. Manganese also plays a role in proper nerve and brain function; helps in the formation of connective tissue, sex hormones, bones and more.
Most people get enough manganese from food, as it is found in a wide range of foods including whole grains, nuts, leafy vegetables, some shellfish, black pepper, coffee, tea and more. However, it is also a popular dietary supplement. Manganese deficiency can lead to muscle weakness, infertility, bone malformations, and even seizures.
Working with mouse models, researchers from various universities in China found that manganese not only reduces lipids in the bloodstream that lead to plaque formation, but also helps remove those already formed from blood vessel walls.
"We found an active, signaling role for manganese ion in controlling lipid delivery to the blood," said Xiao Wang, one of the lead authors of the study.
Wang and his colleagues found that the element can bind to a complex essential for lipoproteins. These are chemical "couriers" that move lipids, including cholesterol and triglycerides, into the bloodstream. It's also known as coat of membrane protein complex II (COPII) and is supposed to maintain a very precise chemical balance. But manganese disrupts it.
In a new study, scientists found that even oral administration of manganese in mice dramatically reduced blood lipid concentrations and removed plaques that had formed in the rodents' blood vessels.
The study is published in the journal Life Metabolism.