I’ve had many people come to my office for support with
Hypothyroidism who have found out they have a gene polymorphism of the MTHFR
gene and want to know if there is a connection and what to do about it. Here is the link to the video version.
The first thing I need to review is what MTHFR is. MTHFR
refers to a gene and the enzyme it produces called methylenetetrahydrofolate
reductase. This enzyme is responsible for the conversion of dietary folate to
the more active form used by the body, methylenetetrahydrofolate (MTHF).
MTHF is used in the cells of the body for many functions.
One of the major processes that utilizes MTHF is a process called methylation.
Methylation is involved in about 200 different reactions in the cells including;
energy production, neurotransmitter production and metabolism, cell membranes,
bile formation, detoxification, glutathione production, and many more.
It’s thought that approximately 50% of the US population has
an alteration from the normal or “wild” form of the gene. The variation of the
amino acid sequence changes the function of the enzyme produced. The variation
from the wild type is call a polymorphism or snp.
We have thousand of genes in the body and many of them have
these alteration or polymorphisms. Some have no impact on the function of the
enzymes produced, some have significant consequences. Alterations in the MTHFR
gene can be mild or insignificant for some and devastating for others.
Polymorphism in the MTHFR gene are typically associated with
reduced activity of the enzyme produced.
For the MTHFR enzyme to work properly it requires cofactors.
Cofactors are vitamins, mineral, or other molecules that are needed for the
enzyme to work. If you’re confused, let’s use the analogy of your car. Your car
can get you from point A to point B. But for the car to work it needs oil and
gas. Oil and gas would be considered cofactors needed to make the car work.
One of the cofactors needed for MTHFR to work is vitamin B2,
also known as Riboflavin. When we eat food, or take vitamins with riboflavin,
the riboflavin is absorbed into the body and transported into the cells. Once
inside the cells, riboflavin must be converted into an active form to support
MTHFR in the cells. The active form of riboflavin is called Flavin Adenine
Dinucleotide. We will just use the acronym FAD.
The conversion of riboflavin to FAD requires its own enzyme
and cofactors. The enzyme is called Riboflavin Kinase (also known as
Flavokinase) and its cofactor is the thyroid hormone triiodothyronine (T3).
Here is where we get to the good stuff.
As I’ve explained in multiple videos, hypothyroid symptoms
are the result of reduced levels of T3 reaching the nucleus of the cells, a
condition we call Cellular hypothyroidism. And as you may remember, cellular hypothyroidism
can occur with a healthy thyroid gland and normal lab ranges of serum T4 and
T3.
In cases of cellular hypothyroidism, there can be a reduced amount
of thyroid hormone reaching the cell or in many cases the cell is deactivating
T4 and T3 due to some cellular stress response or a need to slow down cell
metabolism. T4 is converted to reverse T3 (rT3), and T3 is converted into T2. Both
are inactive forms.
If there is reduced T3 inside your cells, then riboflavin
conversion to FAD goes down. If there is less FAD available for the MTHFR
enzyme, than you will have reduced function of the enzyme and less MTHF
produced. This compromises all the functions I listed above.
If you have cellular hypothyroidism for any reason, FAD
production is reduced, MTHFR function is reduced regardless of which variant of
MTHFR you have. If you have a MTHFR polymorphism MTHFR677 or MTHFR1298 that
already have reduced function, the cellular hypothyroidism will compound the
problem and have significant impact on your cell physiology and your health.
So, what can you do? Should you take more riboflavin? Eat
more foods with riboflavin? Take more thyroid hormone?
The answer is not that simple. But, you could look at the
foods you are eating. If you aren’t taking foods high in riboflavin, that’s a
start. More likely if you have hypothyroid symptoms you will need to address the
cause of your cellular hypothyroidism to fix the problem.
If you remember from past episodes this usually means
addressing cellular stress. When there is chronic stress on the body cellular
thyroid physiology is often down regulated increasing the conversion of T4 and
T3 to inactive forms. The stress can come from organisms, heavy metals, organic
chemicals, emotional stress, reduced sleep, compromised breathing, poor diets,
and other lifestyle factors.
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