Recently discovered factors about muscle weakness

Professor Tamai from Kanazawa University discovered that certain juices, such as grapefruit, apple and orange juices influence the absorption of certain medications in the body. Carnitine deficiency in the body is usually associated with muscle weakness. Carnitine is a compound that helps the transportation of fatty acids for generating metabolic energy.

 In this study, professor Tamai describes OCTN2, a carnitine transporter. The heart, the skeletal muscles and the kidneys are the body areas where OCTN2 is strongly expressed. If its expression is disrupted, this fact leads to muscle weakness. This study helped “contribute to a better understanding of the molecular mechanism of systemic carnitine deficiency and normal lipid metabolism allowing genetic screening and gene therapy for families with disease history”.

In this study, professor Tamai is also analyzing the way how OATPs affect absorption of certain drugs in the body. More precisely, what he analyzes in this research is sugar, present in juices, such as hesperidin and naringin.