Vitamin-similar substances

Choline is a water-soluble essential nutrient. It is usually grouped within the B-complex vitamins.

Choline generally refers to the various quaternary ammonium salts containing the N,N,N-

trimethylethanolammonium cation.

These naturally-occuring ammonium salts are found in the lipids that make up cell membranes and in the

neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Adequate intakes (AI) for this micronutrient of between 425 to 550 milligrams daily, for adults, have been established

by the Food.

4-Aminobenzoic acid

• 4-Aminobenzoic acid (also known as para-aminobenzoic acid or PABA) is an organic compound with the formula H2NC6H4CO2H. PABA is a white crystalline substance that is only slightly soluble in water. It consists of a benzene ring substituted with an amino group and a carboxyl group.

Lipoic acid• Lipoic acid is an organosulfur compound, one

enantiomer of which is an essential cofactor for many enzyme complexes. This yellow solid is a carboxylic acid and features a cyclic disulfide, or ditholane ring, functional group. The R-enantiomer is biosynthesized and used as a cofactor. It is essential for aerobic life and is a common and sometimes controversial dietary supplement. It is usually called "lipoic acid," but this is not the form it takes in life. dihydrolipoic acid is the reduced form which is mostly how the sulfurs exist intracellularly.

• "Lipoate" is the conjugate base of lipoic acid, and this is the form carboxylic acids take at physiological conditions. So free lipoic acid inside the cell could correctly be called dihydrolipoate. Most intracellular lipoic acid is not free, because it is made and attached to the enzyme complexes that use it. As a cofactor it is covalently bound via an amide bond to a specific lysine residue of lipoyl domains. One of the most visible roles of lipoic acid is as a cofactor in aerobic metabolism, specifically the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex. Lipoate participates in transfer of acyl or methylamine groups in 2-oxoacid dehydrogenases (2-OADH)

• Alpha-lipoic acid is a vitamin-like chemical called an antioxidant. Yeast, liver, kidney, spinach, broccoli, and potatoes are good sources of alpha-lipoic acid. It is also made in the laboratory for use as medicine.

• Alpha-lipoic acid is used for diabetes and nerve-related symptoms of diabetes including burning, pain, and numbness in the legs and arms. High doses of alpha-lipoic acid are approved in Germany for the treatment of these symptoms.

• Alpha-lipoic acid is also used to treat eye-related disorders, such as damage to the retina, cataracts, glaucoma, and an eye disease.

Ubiquinone

• Ubiquinone is another name for CoQ10, a potent antioxidant naturally produced by the body and important to cell functioning and development. Ubiquinone naturally decreases with aging, and it is used in cosmetics and personal care products (in a wide variety of formulas) as an anti-aging ingredient that replaces some of the natural antioxidant produced by the body, whether ingested or applied topically. When applied topically, Ubiquinone is thought to penetrate the skin easily, and reduce free radical damage via its antioxidant properties.

• Ubiquinone, as CoQ10, is also considered effective in treating a large number of internal diseases, including Parkinson's disease. Patients suffering from a wide variety of health effects and conditions may have a low level of natural CoQ10, or Ubiquinone; it is often taken as a supplement to assist in rebuilding cells.

Carnitine • In animals, the biosynthesis of carnitine

occurs primarily in the liver and kidneys from the amino acids lysine and methionine. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is essential to the synthesis of carnitine.

During growth or pregnancy, the requirement of carnitine might exceed its natural production

• The carnitines exert a substantial antioxidant action, thereby providing a protective effect against lipid peroxidation of phospholipid membranes and against oxidative stress induced at the myocardial and endothelial cell level.

Orotic Acid• Vitamin B13 is not really recognized as a

vitamin, since it is manufactured by the body by intestinal flora. It is primarily used for metabolization of folic acid and vitamin B12. It assists the absorption of essential nutrients especially calcium and magnesium and helps the production of genetic material. It may be beneficial after a heart attack and has been used in conditions such as multiple sclerosis and chronic hepatitis. It is also reported to prevent liver-related complications and premature aging.