A Tiny Blue Dye Helps Heart Cells Breathe Better
Methylene blue improves mitochondrial respiration and decreases oxidative stress in a substrate-dependent manner in diabetic rat hearts.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Methylene blue increases H₂O₂ with one fuel but decreases it with another — a dual, substrate-dependent effect.
Most antioxidants are assumed to reduce all ROS uniformly. This study shows methylene blue doesn't act like a blanket suppressor — it's a precision tool that changes behavior depending on the metabolic pathway, which is rare and counterintuitive.
Practical Takeaways
If you're diabetic or have heart concerns, don't self-supplement with methylene blue — but do ask your doctor if clinical trials are recruiting.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Methylene blue increases H₂O₂ with one fuel but decreases it with another — a dual, substrate-dependent effect.
Most antioxidants are assumed to reduce all ROS uniformly. This study shows methylene blue doesn't act like a blanket suppressor — it's a precision tool that changes behavior depending on the metabolic pathway, which is rare and counterintuitive.
Practical Takeaways
If you're diabetic or have heart concerns, don't self-supplement with methylene blue — but do ask your doctor if clinical trials are recruiting.
Publication
Journal
Canadian journal of physiology and pharmacology
Year
2017
Authors
O. Duicu, Andreea I Privistirescu, A. Wolf, A. Petruș, Maria D Dănilă, Corina Ratiu, D. Muntean, A. Sturza
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Claims (6)
Adding a tiny amount of methylene blue to heart cell power plants makes them use oxygen more efficiently, no matter what fuel they're burning.
Methylene blue makes heart cell power plants produce more harmful molecules when using one fuel (glutamate/malate), but less when using another (succinate), showing its effect depends on what the cell is burning.
Adding methylene blue doesn’t change how well heart cell power plants can hold onto calcium, meaning it doesn’t protect against the pore that can cause cell death under stress.
A tiny amount of methylene blue helps heart cells make energy better, but too much actually hurts them — it’s a classic case of 'less is more'.
Heart cells from diabetic rats have weaker power plants that leak more harmful molecules than those from healthy rats, which matches what scientists expect in diabetes-related heart damage.