I’m halfway through a 90-day trial of plasmalogens coincident with improving peroxisomal function via resistance exercise and time-restricted eating. I haven’t curated related 2023 papers I’ve read concerning plasmalogens, peroxisomes, sphingolipids, ceramides, and mitochondrial interactions with these, mainly because I haven’t seen human-pertinent aspects similar to Dr. Goodenowe’s efforts.
The 2023 papers I’ve read have more to do with researcher incentives rather than actual human benefits. I’d guess that researchers care about these related subjects to the extent that they want to be the first to publish arcane details about them, like peroxisomes in the parotid salivary gland.
One area I expected to see a difference at the regimen’s beginning was in my peripheral nervous system Schwann cells. Instead, I had taste and smell improvements in my primary olfactory nervous system olfactory ensheathing cells, which are highly similar to Schwann cells. I was also happy to experience an immediate halt to my ulnar nerve elbow pain after what I interpret as ProdromeNeuro effects and perhaps coincident ProdromeGlia effects on items upstream of Schwann cells.
Here are three papers on Schwann cells that I haven’t yet seen as applicable to my current regimen, starting with a 2022 review:
“We summarise contributions of neurotransmitter receptors in regulation of morphogenetic events of glial cells, with particular attention paid to the role of acetylcholine receptors in Schwann cell physiology. This redundant and complex integrated regulation system could be explained as a mechanism of preserving glial cell physiology. In case of a single receptor signalling dysfunction, other neurotransmitters can overcome the deficit, preserving functions of glia and health of the nervous system.
Increased knowledge in medicinal chemistry and in bioinformatics accompanied by drug delivery studies might open a fascinating therapeutic perspective for cholinergic mimetics for treatment of several nervous system pathologies, and in reducing neuroinflammation both in the central and peripheral nervous systems.”
https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9059/11/1/41 “Emerging Roles of Cholinergic Receptors in Schwann Cell Development and Plasticity”
A 2023 study investigated the vagus nerve’s Schwann cells’ impact with gut function:
“The vagus nerve is the longest extrinsic cranial nerve in the body. It regulates gut physiology through the intrinsic nervous system (myenteric and submucosal plexus) and enteric glial cells interactions, which participate in controlling intestinal absorption, secretion, immune homeostasis, and motility.
Normal intestinal motility is critical for nutrition assimilation and several biological functions. The loss of normal gut function aggravates inflammation, oxidative stress, and other cellular stressors.”
https://bmcbiotechnol.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12896-023-00781-x “A critical role for erythropoietin on vagus nerve Schwann cells in intestinal motility”
I haven’t curated a Buck Institute for Research on Aging sponsored study for a while, since their 2015 A study of how “age” itself wasn’t a causal factor for wound-healing differences detracted from science and their 2020 Linear thinking about biological age clocks wasted resources.
This 2023 rodent study couldn’t investigate anything outside of Buck’s limited paradigm’s echo chamber. This sponsor would rather break their arms patting themselves on their backs pretending they’re advancing science than fund relevant human research successes that do advance science:
“Following peripheral nerve injury, successful axonal growth and functional recovery require Schwann cell (SC) reprogramming into a reparative phenotype. This work provides the first characterization of senescent SCs and their influence on axonal regeneration in aging and chronic denervation.”
https://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.15252/emmm.202317907 “Senescent Schwann cells induced by aging and chronic denervation impair axonal regeneration following peripheral nerve injury”
Surface Your Real Self 
Wow, I’m so happy to read you’ve noticed some improvements on plasmalogens! It is disappointing that, outside of Dr. Goodenowe’s accounts, the report of human benefits are rather limited. It seems like such a promising area for future research–I’ve encountered a handful of others online who have reported n of 1 benefits for a whole host of conditions.
Hi, thanks for commenting! Could you point me to other people who have experienced Prodrome supplement benefits?
Think the failure to show more human benefits in improving peroxisome-mitochondria interactions revolves around researcher incentives. For example, a paper I read but didn’t curate summarized a 2022 3-day gathering at a Portuguese resort spot.
I read most of the papers presented there by EU researchers. They impressed as all about being published to add to researcher CVs, and getting citations to boost a paper’s ratings.
I’m sure part of the EU research problem of not addressing human plasmalogen situations and needs revolves around institutional hierarchy, which won’t be solved. The group’s 2024 meeting is in a Spanish resort, Costa Brava.
Non-EU researchers definitely need to be involved in furthering Prodrome’s proven interventions. As an example, one of the papers I highlighted in this post investigated vagus nerve Schwann cells. It would impossible for a non-researcher to tease out vagus nerve Schwann cell improvements due to Prodrome treatments, because the vagus nerve influences so much of our physiology.
Have you tried Dr. Goodenowe’s suggestion of improving peroxisomal function with time-restricted eating and resistance exercise? Since Prodrome plasmalogen precursors bypass peroxisomes, my initial intention was to make plasmalogen treatments a 90-day intervention, and to improve peroxisomal function such that ProdromeNeuro and ProdromeGlia wouldn’t be needed. My experience in trying to implement TRE and REx at the halfway point, though, has been one step forward, one step back.
I’ve seen a few one-off success stories on various forums, but didn’t bookmark any. The most interesting project was the Remission Biome self-experimentation project, in which a group of scientists with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome are developing and testing hypotheses after experiencing brief remission events and trying to recreate that increased baseline. They’ve recruited a cohort of volunteer patients, received limited funding for treatment, and plan to publish the results. The treatment includes plasmalogens for neuroflammation and related symptoms, and they will be running the ProdromeScan before and after to show changes in plasmalogen and choline levels, as well as peroxisomal function. It’s not a clinical trial, but they’re trying to standardize as best possible to create reliable and repeatable results. There’s lots of chatter in their social media with comments like, “Thanks for introducing me to plasmalogens! It helped my brain fog/small fiber neuropathy/etc.” Not tons of data, but I’m curious and keeping my eye on this project. But you make a great point about requiring real researchers to investigate vagus nerve Schwann cell improvements because self-reporting won’t suffice for that type of data.
https://remissionbiome.org/hypotheses/
On another chronic fatigue forum, someone resolved their restless legs, improved brain fog, and boosted mental acuity. Another cured their mold toxicity/chronic fatigue. Another claims feeling more like themself with improved circulation and a sense of calm, and other saw mild/modest improvement in cognition and strength. It’s all anecdotal, but there’s a bit of a buzz around plasmalogens in the chronic fatigue community, so I suspect those who can afford it may be trying and reporting their results in the coming months… nothing formal, unfortunately, but on social media and forums.
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/my-experience-on-plasmalogens.91113/
I haven’t tried TRE and REx, though I’ve read/heard of many promising benefits to each. It would be wonderful if they offered similar benefits to peroxisomal function without the cost. Unfortunately, I think this area is still the wild wild west and it’s currently just a lot of self-experimentation and self-reporting.
Great stuff! Really happy for you that you’ve built yourself back up in 2023!
I’m listening to a webinar with Dr. Goodenowe right now, and one thing caught my attention. Cell membrane phospholipids are broken down when cells are distressed. Endogenous production of plasmalogens will gradually rebuild these membranes, but its capacity is limited and slow, and may not be sufficient for the immediate distress situation.
None of us who have improved our functioning want to backslide (uggh). Getting knocked down a week or two may not become a big deal if their starting point is healthy. It will depend on how resilient the person is.
Ah, I wasn’t able to listen listen last night because we had to help my in-laws, so I’m looking forward to catching up on the recording tonight. That does mirror what my doctor has explained, though. It’s such fascinating stuff, and it will be interesting to see how future research unfolds. Plasmalogens seem to hold a lot of promise.
Dr. Goodenowe made an argument for phosphatidylcholine from animal rather than plant sources. And another argument for intermittent fasting with resistance exercise.
Still don’t agree with recommendations for taking NAC per https://surfaceyourrealself.com/2023/11/26/a-good-activity-for-bad-weather-days/ and https://surfaceyourrealself.com/2024/01/27/get-a-little-stress-into-your-life/
But one person can’t know everything.
Fantastic! Thank you for sharing–I’ll watch now. Interesting about phosphatidylcholine. Dr. Goodenowe is a bright guy. While I’m also not 100% sold on all his ideas, he always offers some great food for thought.