What is Moducare ?
I often get asked what Moducare actually is? Well, it's a source of the natural food stuff called sterolin glycosides. Sterolin glycoside are a biology active form sterols and they have shown to maintain a normal immune system which in turn is a health benefit.
Please read what Professor Pegel says.
WHAT ARE STEROIDS AND STEROLS: THEIR FUNCTION AND MODE OF ACTION
By Prof. Karl H Pegel
Steroids including sterols are a family of natural product substances belonging to a vast group of compounds known as terpenoids, all derived biosynthetically from R-mevalonic acid via isopentenol. In animals steroids are derived from the tetracyclic tricterpenoid lanosterol (C30H50O) by its degradation first to cholesterol (C27H46O) which through further metabolic changes gives rise to corticosteroids (C21), sex hormones (pregnanes, C21; androstanes, C19; estranes, C18; vitamin D3, C27; and bile acids, C24). Each class of compound within this steroid family has different structural and functional characteristics. If these compounds were plants, one could consider each class as a genus and each compound within the genus could then be looked on as a species with its own typical bioactive characteristics. Thus the sterol genus, which includes the phytosterols, will have different bioactive characteristics from the corticosteroid genus. There would then be no confusion of bioactive characteristics of species members within the sex hormone genus with bioactivities of species members within the corticosteroid genus.
The structural and functional differences between species of the sterol genus and species of the corticosteroid genus are more pronounced than the differences between some of the sex hormones and the corticosteroids and it is therefore not surprising that there are vast bioactivity differences between sterols and corticosteroids as well as the sex hormones. There is also no obvious reason why cholesterol and its sterol genus plant analogue sitosterol should have corticosteroid or sex hormone type of activity.
Cholesterol in animals and sitosterol in plants have two important functions of which the more prominent is their use as essential static components in cell membranes regulating their permeability and membrane associated enzyme activities. If the sterol concentration is too high in cellular membranes then their permeability and associated enzyme activities are impaired in both plants and in animals. In animals a small amount of sitosterol counteracts the cholesterol condensing effect on membranes, while in plants cholesterol counteracts the sitosterol condensing effect.
Secondly, cholesterol serves as a precursor for the various steroid genera such as the corticosteroids, sex hormones, bile acids, and vitamin D3. The production of these compounds is on demand and usually self-regulating.
Sitosteryl glucoside (a sterolin) is an important primary metabolite in plants although its function in plants is as yet unknown. It has however been shown that it promotes cell membrane permeability and hence absorption or passage of proteins through cell membranes. All steryl glucosides have this ability although sitosterolin is more effective than cholesterolin. Cholesterolin is also synthesized in animals under certain stress conditions and can therefore be considered as an anti-stress agent since it induces the formation of beneficial ‘heat-shock proteins’.
Moducare™ contains both sitosterol and sitosterolin. By their inherent nature as 'static’ cell membrane components they counteract any deleterious permeability cell membrane effects and associated impaired enzyme activities both vital for keeping the various immune system components in balance and under feedback control.
Steroid hormones on the other hand act as ‘mobile’ messenger molecules by first binding to specific receptor proteins inside the cell before these complexes bind to specific sites on DNA thereby inducing the formation of new mRNAs and new proteins.
Thus the mode of action of sitosterol/sitosterolin and the steroid hormones is different. The first act as beneficial ‘static’ membrane components thereby maintaining an effective permeability and associated enzyme activity resulting in a regulated environment within the cell. The various steroid hormones, on the other hand, are ‘mobile’ messengers controlling the induction or repression of specific sets of genes resulting in rather distinct modes of cellular responses which may be helpful to control a disease condition, but will not necessarily be beneficial in the long run.
The lowering of the mainly Th2 related IL-6 observed for corticosteroids and Moducare‘ is therefore due to different modes of action. In the case of corticosteroids this is probably achieved by a general suppression of the Th1/Th2 immune system, while sitosterol/sitosterolin achieves this by a regulatory mode causing minimum disruption of immune functions.
An interesting recent application of sitosterol is its use of its hydrogenated and esterified forms, sitostanyl ester, incorporated into margarines and other food products to lower elevated serum cholesterol levels. Sitostanol does this by most, but not all, accounts more efficiently than sitosterol or its esters. At the same time sitostanol also lowers serum sitosterol levels more efficiently than cholesterol levels with the result that serum sitosterol:cholesterol ratios are reduced. This suggests, in the light of the above explanations, that a prolonged consumption of sitostanol food products (so-called neutraceuticals) may have serious health consequences. Only one study so far has reported the development of prostatitis in male subject towards the end of a four-week trial period. This is rather ironic when one considers that sitosterol/sitosterolin products are used in Germany to treat benign prostate hypertrophy.