Cetyl Myristoleate Documentation

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

IT'S HARD TO BELIEVE BUT IT'S BEEN OVER FOUR YEARS SINCE I FIRST WROTE A SMALL BOOKLET ENTITLED Dr. Chuck Cochran Discusses Arthritis & Cetyl Myristoleate. As you can imagine, a lot has transpired since that time. We now have quite a few healthcare practitioners who use it regularly in their offices and it's being sold through several nutritional lines in health food stores. Some multi-level companies now offer ceryl myristoleate (CM) and related products in their lines and recently CM was put in a formula to treat arthritis in dogs. It has also been written about in Dr. Robert Atkins' most recent book entitled Vita-Nutrient Solution-Nature's Answer to Drugs. Dr. Sherry Rogers, for her soon-to-be-completed book on chronic pain, recently interviewed me. I also had the fortunate opportunity to be interviewed by totalhealth (Volume 21, No. 1). I've found that there is a big difference in all of these products, however, so I appreciate the opportunity to share some of the information that I have gathered since I was first introduced to this marvelous molecule.

CETYL MYRISTOLEATETHE HISTORY

For those of you who have not heard or read about ceryl myristoleate, let me give you just a little background. The discovery occurred during a two-year period from 1962 to 1964 when Harry W Diehl was on a personal quest to find a cure for arthritis. Harry was a research chemist working in sugar metabolism at the National Institutes for Health in Bethesda, Maryland. During his time there, over 40 years, he was responsible for isolating and identifying over 500 chemical compounds. Many of these were patented. His most notable discovery, prior to CM, was a sugar used in the preparation of Dr. Jonas Salk's oral polio vaccination. His discovery of CM actually occurred in a laboratory that he had set up in his own home. The story of how he isolated the molecule that may one day be hailed as the most significant nutritional discovery of the 20th century and nature's answer to arthritis is simply wonderful.

Unfortunately, I can't relate the entire story in this short article. Hopefully, someday someone will write the story of this very intuitive researcher. In a nutshell, this is what Diehl's research revealed:

* Mice are immune to arthritis.

* The molecule that provides this immunity is cetyl myristoleate (the cetyl alcohol ester of the 14-carbon chain fatty acid myristoleic acid).

* CM circulates in the bloodstream of mice at approximately 350 mg/kg bodyweight. With proper doses of CM extracted from mice (450-500 mg/kg body weight), he could provide rats with 100 percent immunity to adjuvant-induced arthritis.

* After injecting the CM into the rats, the highest concentrations were found in the liver. 4 Diehl developed a way of synthesizing CM by combining ceryl alcohol with myristoleic acid and found that the synthesized form was just as effective in providing rats immunity to adjuvant-induced arthritis as the naturally occurring form (extracted from mice).

SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH

A more recent study, performed by H. Siemandi, M.D., Ph.D., was published in the August/September 1997 issue of the Townsend Letter for Doctors e'r Patients. This study was performed as a randomized, double-blind, placebo parallel trial with 382 patients who had been diagnosed with degenerative joint disease (DJD or osteoarthritis), rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis. This group was divided into three groups for testing. The first group (A) received a complex of fatty acids (90 grams) containing 12 percent CM, the second group (B) received the same complex of fatty acid esters plus glucosamine hydrochloride, sea cucumber (a sea animal commonly found in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia-related to the starfish), and hydrolyzed cartilage and the third group (C) received a placebo. Treatment consisted of a one-month protocol. Outcome measures included a variety of patient-reported clinical, laboratory and radiographic assessments. The results are shown on the next page (expressed in percent improvement).

MECHANISMS OF ACTION AND INDICATIONS

The exact mechanisms of action of CM are not fully understood. Several theories have been presented but as of today there has been no research in this regard. Being a fatty acid ester, one mechanism being presented is that it somehow manipulates the production of the favorable prostaglandins, (series 1 and/or 3) and leukotrienes over the unfavorable prostaglandins of the second series and proinflammatory leukotrienes. Prostaglandins and leukotrienes are unsaturated fatty acids that regulate many local metabolic processes including inflammation, platelet aggregation, pain, fluid balance and nerve transmission. These effects could be accomplished by inhibition of the arachidonic acid cascade and the cyclo-oxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways.

Another mechanism being discussed is that these fatty acid esters are somehow incorporated into the phospholipid cell membranes and alter cell membrane permeability and receptor sites. This could explain the possible theory of altering T lymphocyte function during the hyper-immune response related to autoimmune diseases.

Although the mechanisms are unknown, we can clinically observe CM's effects. It seems to function in at least four different ways. One of the first observations noted when favorable results are seen is the lubricating quality. Decrease or loss of morning stiffness is commonly noted shortly after commencing treatment. Next it functions as an antiinflammatory. Lessening of swollen digits is often seen after the fourth or fifth week of treatment. Third, it functions as an immunomodulator or immune system regulator. Its ability to regulate or calm down hyper-immune responses is one of the most exciting qualities and shows that CM may be helpful in addressing the symptoms related to many autoimmune diseases. Finally, CM functions as an analgesic or pain killer and has been helpful for many sufferers of muscle tension headaches and fibromyalgia.

RECOMMENDED DOSE

We have found that many of those individuals who have taken ceryl myristoleate (CM) and have not responded, have often taken doses far below what is recommended. Results are related to the quality of the product as well as the amount of CM taken orally (therapeutic or loading dose). If we do a little mathematics and use the amount of CM circulating in the bloodstream of mice as a comparison (350 mg/kg), we conclude that a 160-pound person could require up to 24.5 grams. Fortunately, possibly because human and mouse metabolisms differ greatly, we have found that doses of 12 grams to 18 grams of elemental CM as a therapeutic or loading dose taken over a three to four-week period of time works fantastically well. However, there are those individuals that require a second protocol. Once the desired results have been achieved, there are many individuals that benefit from taking much smaller, maintenance doses, perhaps daily.

Concerning the quality, there is a wide degree of diverse CM products available today. In fact, some of the CM formulas have no ceryl myristoleate in them at all. Before purchasing any of these formulas, please read the label to determine exactly how much CM is available. It is imperative that the formula contain a minimum of 12 percent CM levels. If the levels are below this amount, you'll probably have to take a wheelbarrow full before seeing any results. In other words (let's do a little math), if you are trying to achieve a therapeutic dose of 12 grams of CM and the CM levels are at 12 percent, you will need a total of 100 grams of mixed fatty acid esters in this particular formula. If the CM levels are at 20 percent, you will need a total of only 60 grams. If the manufacturer has not listed the percentages and the total amount of fatty acid ester complex, I would be very hesitant to purchase that particular product. Without this information you have no way of determining how much you need to take, for how long and what would be a good maintenance dose.

THE CONFUSION

There are many different cetyl myristoleate and related products available today. There are several which, either through ignorance or unethical marketing, have contributed to extensive confusion in the nutritional and healthcare industry.

There are several issues that I'd like to address in this regard. First, ceryl myristoleate (CM) is not CMOTM. CMOTM is a trademarked product that is being sold as cerasomal cis-9 ceryl myristoleate, an analog of ceryl myristoleate. The term cerasomal (waxy body?) is not in your chemistry texts and was constructed by the manufacturer to set apart his product. The term analog is defined as a similar molecule. In other words, CMOTM contains a similar molecule, but is not ceryl myristoleate. Chemical analysis performed on several occasions, using gas chromatography, mass spectrometry and flame ionization detection has revealed very little, if any, ceryl myristoleate in this product. Unfortunately the manufacturer, as of today, has not disclosed exactly what his product is.

Another embarrassing mix up is that at least one of the manufacturers started with a raw material that contained high levels of myristic acid (C14:0) instead of myristoleic acid (C14:1). Myristic acid is the saturated analog of myristoleic acid and when esterified with ceryl alcohol produces ceryl myristate, not ceryl myristoleate. Before the sophisticated diagnostic procedures were developed to analyze CM, many of these products were analyzed using improper or inadequate methods. These products are now on our health food store shelves and in the MLM industry being sold as ceryl myristoleate, but in fact are ceryl myristate.

And finally, all CM products are not created equally. Chemical analysis of several different products has revealed that the CM levels range from one percent up to 40 percent. And to add to the confusion, I have found products that contain lower percentages of CM (20-30 percent) that seem to work better than the CM products with higher levels. Please note that there are no CM products today that are 100 percent pure. With all of these products you will find a complex of other fatty acid esters, for example, ceryl stearate, ceryl palmitate, ceryl oleate and ceryl myristate, in different proportions. What we're now finding is that some of these fatty acid esters may inhibit the positive effects of the CM, while others work with the CM in a cooperative way.

For those technical individuals out there, gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) analysis is now considered one of the most accurate techniques for detecting these fatty acid esters. Here's something that you also may find interesting. Further analysis of the product used by Dr. Siemandi in his study showed that it actually contained 10.8 grams of CM and not IS grams, as stated in his report. One very current analysis of this same material indicated that the CM levels could be as low as 9 grams per one-month treatment. If he had used a product containing 18 grams of elemental CM, I'm sure that his percentages would have increased dramatically since favorable results are dose-dependent.

IN MEMORIAM

Harry W Diehl was born in 1910 in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Considered by many as one of the most brilliant natural talents in chemistry, Diehl retired in 1974 after 40 years of service at the National Institutes of Health in the Laboratory of Chemistry of the National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolic, and Digestive Diseases. He discovered cetyl myristoleate

Dr. H. Siemandi's study results.

Enlarge 200% Enlarge 400%

in 1904.

Diehl's research on ceryl myristoleate was published in the March 1994 issue of the American Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the prestigious peer review journal of the American Pharmaceutical Association and the American Chemical Society. Diehl received two U.S. patents on ceryl myristoleate, the first in 1977 for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and in 1996 for osteoarthritis.

Harry Weldon Diehl died after a short illness in Charlottesville, Virginia on December 22, 1999 at the age of 89. In life, Harry Diehl was a tower of strength. He has left behind a legacy of hope.

[Author note]
Charles "Chuck" Cochran, D.C. received his doctorate in chiropractic from Palmer College of chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. His post graduate education has included programs in skeletal radiography, diagnosis and treatment of soft tissue injuries, operation and diagnostic procedures of liquid crystal and infrared scanner thermography and philosophy and clinical techniques of acupuncture. Currently Dr. Cochran operates his own nutritional company and consults with several other firms in the nutritional industry on product formulations.