I am a biologist/biochemist, a regular reader of this exchange
and one who has Parkinson's.  I feel badly that I have just been
sitting and watching the discussion on NADH and not contributing
what I know about it.  There is little or nothing that I can
tell you about its effect on the symptoms of Parkinson's
Disease, but I agree with another correspondant who said there
was no reason to be confused about things that are issues of
fact.  So here is some information.
 
NADH is the "reduced" form of nicotinamide adenine
dinucleotide or NAD.  The two molecules differ from one another
in a single hydrogen molecule, which is what the H symbolizes on
NADH.  These molecules are not enzymes.  Enzymes are protein
molecules which catalyze the many metabolic reactions which go
on in our cells.  NAD and NADH are smaller molecules that are
readily able to be interconverted from one to the other as
participants in many metabolic reactions in which a hydrogen
atom is either removed from some other molecule and placed on
NAD to make NADH or removed from NADH and placed on another molecule.
 
Reactions in which hydrogen atoms are transferred from one
molecule to another are called "oxidation-reduction reactions,"
and they are among the most common reactions in cells.  In the
conversion of food molecules (sugars and fats primarily) to
energy, the food is oxidized, eventually being converted by many
small steps to carbon dioxide and water.  NAD and NADH
participate in a number of those small steps.  There are also
reactions in which various molecules are being synthesized from
smaller molecules in which oxidation and reduction are
necessary, and in those cases NAD and NADH also sometimes take part.
 
One of the most important places where NAD and NADH are
constantly being changed back and forth from one to the other is
in the mitochondria of our cells where the chemical energy from
food molecules is being stored in ATP, another small molecule
that participates in many metabolic reactions.  A whole series
of oxidation-reduction reactions in the mitochondria are
together called the "electron transport chain."  This chain
begins with the oxidation of NADH (so it becomes NAD) and the
reduction of another molecule called FMN (Flavin mononucleotide)
which then becomes FMNH.  Eventually the FMNH is converted back
to FMN as Coenzyme Q is changed to Coenzyme QH.  Then after a
bunch of other reactions the Coenzyme QH is changed back to
Coenzyme Q.  Coenzyme Q or CoQ or Q or ubiquinone is another of
those small molecules readily capable of oxidation and reduction.
 
I mention all this, not because it is necessary to understanding
NAD and NADH, but because there are many small molecules that
are involved in oxidation reactions, they all have names, and
the terminology can be confusing (as we have all discovered in
working that through on the Parkinsn net).  In addition,
sometimes these molecules have more than one name.  Twenty or
thirty years ago NAD was called DPN and NADH was called DPNH.
There is yet another molecule called NADP which also can be
reduced with hydrogen to NADPH!!!  So there is no end to the
opportunities to be confused by the terminology.
 
But here is the thing that is interesting to me:  NADH and NAD
are widely distributed in cells.  They participate in a large
number of reactions, many or most of which have no obvious
connection to the metabolism of DOPA and DOPamine.  If the
Parkinson's were caused by a lack of NADH in general, we
wouldn't have Parkinson's because we'd be dead.  Our cells can't
function without NAD and NADH.  So if in fact NADH does have an
effect on relieving our symptoms, it would be really interesting
to know what specific thing was happening.  It may be that there
are those who have an idea what is going on there, but I confess
that I haven't read the necessary papers.  I DO know that the
production of DOPA and DOPamine from the amino acid tyrosine
involve some oxidation-reduction reactions, and I am going to do
some more reading to see if there is a connection there.
 
I hope this hasn't made things worse and more confusing.  The
bottom line is this:  NADH is a molecule we all have in all our
cells and which we use every moment to convert food into the
energy that runs our bodies.  If people have other questions
about NAD and NADH, I will be glad to see what I can find out.
I am a Ph.D., not an M.D., so I won't be able to make medical
judgments, and I really have no idea what connection NADH has
to our symptoms.  BUT... the more we know, the closer we are.
 
Donald Cronkite                 [log in to unmask]
Department of Biology
Hope College
Box 9000
Holland, MI  49422-9000
USA