June 18, 2019 OPTMZ Official

Uridine: 5 Benefits You Might Have Missed

Firstly, What Is Uridine Exactly?

Uridine plays a very important role as one of the building blocks of RNA, which your brain needs to store memories. RNA is important for various biological roles in the body such as coding and decoding genes and even the regulation and expression thereof. However, we'll be looking more towards the aspects of brain health in this article.

Taking uridine as a dietary supplement can assist you to naturally increase the available levels of RNA in your brain, which in turn can help support memory, retention, overall mental performance and brain health.

Uridine can be found naturally from various sources, most notably from plants and has also been found present in breast milk. Uridine has also been shown to play some roles in the glycolysis pathway.

Benefits Of Uridine

1) Cognitive Enhancing Properties

It's been shown that Uridine works in synergy with DHA and Choline to increase the number synapses your brain forms.

Sleep - Uridine showed to support positive results in increasing slow-wave sleep in a study conducted on sleep-deprived rats.

After only four days of continuous uridine use, neuroplasticity showed improvement and increases in neurite filaments and an overall increase in neurites in brain cells. A study conducted on gerbils with the inclusion of choline and DHA led to enhanced cognitive function during brain exercises.

2) Improved Memory

Prolonged use of Uridine showed a positive impact on memory in both humans and rats as studies have suggested.

In one study, supplementing uridine with a choline source improved both verbal and logical memory in humans. It's also been shown that Uridine helps to delay symptoms of Alzheimer's due to its benefits in stimulating synapse formation in the brain. Another study conducted on rats showed an improvement in learning and memory skills. Damage to the hippocampus resulting in memory dysfunction was also alleviated. Its also to be noted that rats who were administered Uridine reflected an increase in acetylcholine and dopamine levels.

3) Reduced Inflammation

A study conducted on patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome showed promising results in the reduction of overall pain they suffered. A daily dose of one capsule of uridine monophosphate in conjunction with folic acid and vitamin B12 was administered. The results came in with a lowered score on their pain as well as the overall intensity of pain and their symptoms.

Another study also concluded a positive result in the reduction of back, neck and hip pain in humans with uridine bein administered in combination with vitamin B12 and cytidine.

Supplementation of Uridine also showed to reduce and relieve inflammation and the symptoms of lung fibrosis in mice through the reduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Testing done on human lung cells also corroborated these findings and showed uridine to have anti-inflammatory properties.

4) Uridine Protects The Heart

A lack of blood to the heart deprives the heart of vital oxygen and can be very problematic, going without saying. A study conducted on rats showed that uridine effectively normalises heart rhythm by way of increasing blood flow. It's also been shown that uridine can lessen the contractions during a heart attack by activating P2Y2 receptors. Uridine also reduced high blood pressure in mice by increasing blood flow.

5) Effects on Depression, Bipolar Disorder and Mitochondria

According to a study conducted on adolescent patients with depression and bipolar disorder, there is a connection to mitochondrial function and bipolar disorders where evidence suggests implications in mitochondrial energy metabolism in the neurobiology of bipolar disorder. This preliminary study also concluded that uridine treatment was helpful in preventing symptoms of depression without undergoing any negative effects or experiencing any adverse events.

Another study conducted on rats also showed to alleviate symptoms associated with depression.

Sources

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4011061/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21401495

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18606862

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23550835

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17184749

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16055952

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26679082

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22128442

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26369416

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25339588