Within every patient’s genome are opportunities to optimize health and wellness. Pure Encapsulations, Sudbury, MA, has added the Antioxidant & Cellular Defense Protocol to its PureGenomics platform, enabling practitioners to evaluate patients’ genetic makeup and tailor nutritional supplement regimens that help bypass specific genetic variations, leading to optimized antioxidant status, detoxification and estrogen metabolism.
 
PureGenomics combines educational tools, protocols and core products with a dynamic, practitioner-exclusive website application to help identify and address common genetic variations known as Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). The new Antioxidant & Cellular Defense Protocol, developed by functional medicine practitioner Dr. Nathan Morris and Pure Encapsulations nutritional pharmacologist Dr. Kelly Heim, identifies three specific SNPs that may negatively impact the body’s ability to rid itself of toxins, and provides specific protocols that can be used to enhance the metabolism of toxins in individuals with these common SNPs.
 
“Our bodies are designed to produce specialized enzymes that dispose of waste created during our normal energy production and metabolic process,” explained Dr. Morris. “However, common genetic variations can affect how well those enzymes work, causing oxidative stress, meaning our natural antioxidants are limited and our bodies are not able to detoxify properly.”
 
The PureGenomics website application imports and analyzes a patient’s 23andMe genetic data, empowering health professionals to TEST, TRANSLATE and TARGET the most clinically relevant SNPs impacting detoxification with the right nutritional support.
 
“The field of nutritional genomics is quickly becoming a valuable tool for healthcare providers, but it can be difficult for practitioners to translate pages of genetic results and to come up with the optimal solutions for each individual patient,” said Dr. Heim. “We’ve evaluated a number of studies to determine the most clinically relevant SNPs impacting detoxification, and are pleased to offer this new resource to practitioners to enable them to expand the use of personalized nutrition in their practices.” 
 
The Antioxidant & Cellular Defense Protocol evaluates the following Genes and SNPs:
 
Gene: Superoxide Dismutase 2 (SOD2; MnSOD), SNP: Val16Ala
According to the International HapMap Project, more than 60% of Americans of European ancestry have the Val16Ala SNP, which alters the location of the SOD2 enzyme, compromising antioxidant defenses.
 
Gene: Glutathione Peroxidase 1P1 (GPx1P1), SNP: Pro198Leu
GPx1P1 reduces oxidative stress by removing waste from the body. An individual with the Pro198Leu SNP experiences reduced enzyme activity and, consequently, higher oxidative stress, as the body is less able to detoxify itself of hydrogen peroxide.
 
Gene: Glutathione sulfotransferase 1P1 (GSTP1) SNP: Ile105Val
GSTP1 Ile105Val SNP is a highly prevalent SNP that is associated with reduced detoxifying capacity. GSTP1 is found abundantly in lung tissue, where it helps protect our cells from toxins we inhale; it is also found in breast cells working to detoxify reactive forms of estrogen.
 
The new Antioxidant and Cellular Defense Protocol is the third in the PureGenomics platform, and joins the existing Methylation and Vitamin A & D Protocols. The Methylation Protocol evaluates seven SNPs impacting the methylation pathway and is designed to support emotional wellness, cardiovascular health, and memory and neurocognitive health. The Vitamin A & D Protocol evaluates two SNPs and is designed to optimize vitamin A status to support immune function, ocular and cellular health, and vitamin D status to support bone, breast, prostate, cardiometabolic, colon and immune health.
 
Existing PureGenomics users can logon to PureGenomics.com and see their full PureGenomics report, complete with the new Antioxidant and Cellular Defense SNPs. New PureGenomics users can visit PureGenomics.com to register.