Hey guys,
I've been looking into this peptide for a while, and might end up giving it a try myself (not sure yet). In the meantime I thought I'd share what I've found!
What is SS-31 (Elamipretide)?"SS-31 is a small peptide that targets and enters mitochondria, the energy-producing parts of cells. It is made up of four amino acids. Once inside mitochondria, it attaches to
cardiolipin, a type of fat, and helps restore the mitochondria's energy production."
When I was looking into cardiolipin more, I found out that it actually mentions Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Bartonella on Wikipedia in regards to anti-cardiolipin antibodies. So I'll go over that first and then explain how it could apply to the infections.
What are anti-cardiolipin antibodies?“anti-cardiolipin antibodies target a type of fat molecule called cardiolipin, which is found in the inner membrane of mitochondria, the energy-producing parts of cells.”
So basically these attack cardiolipin, causing you to have less energy. It’s also associated with antiphospholipid syndrome, but that’s another rabbit hole that I won’t go into for now.
How could this apply to Bartonella?I found this: “Bartonella infection Bartonellosis is a serious chronic bacterial infection shared by both cats and humans.
Spinella found that one patient with bartonella henselae also had anti-cardiolipin antibodies, suggesting that bartonella may trigger their production.”
Sadly, it’s only a case report of one patient. But still, it's interesting.
How could this apply to Chronic fatigue syndrome?"Chronic fatigue syndrome is debilitating illness of unknown cause that often follows an acute viral infection. According to one research study, 95% of CFS patients have anti-cardiolipin antibodies."
I’m not trying to start another discussion on what CFS truly might be, but I thought it was interesting considering so many of us have chronic fatigue.
How could this apply to Lyme?One study states: “Anticardiolipin antibodies in Lyme disease - Sera from 28 patients with Lyme disease were tested for the presence of anticardiolipin antibodies (ACLA). Seven serum samples had elevated levels of IgM ACLA, and 4 had elevated levels of IgG ACLA.”
Somewhat less exciting, I also found this conflicting information from a different study:
“Notably, no antibodies against cardiolipin were found, distinguishing Lyme disease from syphilis and some other diseases. “
Babesia/MalariaIn terms of Babesia, I haven’t found anything specific on that, but I did find this on Malaria. Which is interesting considering Babesia is a malaria-like parasitic disease:
“Anti-cardiolipin antibodies can also be increased in numerous other conditions, including systemic lupus erythematosus, malaria and tuberculosis”
So just to wrap things up, I believe this peptide might interesting for us with fatigue. I haven’t decided on whether I will try it, but I might.
I’ve read a lot of reports and spoken to some people who tried this peptide and the general take-away was that it provides for more energy. I should say that most of these people didn’t have Lyme and/or were healthy. For me personally, my primary symptom is fatigue. So that’s where my interest comes from.
Sources:Anticardiolipin antibodies in Lyme disease
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3408508/High prevalence of co-factor independent anticardiolipin antibodies in malaria exposed individuals
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc1906286/In Silico Survey and Characterization of Babesia microti Functional and Non-Functional Proteases
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3408508/Beyond Cat Scratch Disease: A Case Report of Bartonella Infection Mimicking Vasculitic Disorder
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc1906286/Wikipedia was also surprisingly helpful for once:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/cardiolipinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/antiphospholipid_syndromehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/elamipretide