Heavy isotope diet

Biomolecules that incorporate heavier isotopes give rise to more stable molecular structures under certain circumstances, which is hypothesized to increase resistance to damage associated with ageing[1] or diseases.

The examples are deuterated polyunsaturated fatty acids, essential aminoacids,[4] DNA bases such as cytosine,[5] or heavy water and glucose.

[6] One of the most pernicious and irreparable types of oxidative damage inflicted by reactive oxygen species (ROS) upon biomolecules involves the carbon-hydrogen bond cleavage (hydrogen abstraction).

[7] The company Retrotope pioneered the development a source of deuterated omega-6 fatty acid di-deuterated linoleic acid ethyl ester (RT001) as a food additive for potential treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Friedreich’s ataxia and infantile neuroaxonal dystrophy.

FDA has granted it an orphan drug designation and it passed the Phase I/II clinical trials (as of 2018).

Chemical structures of ethyl linoleate — natural (top) and its deuterated version 11,11-D 2 -ethyl linoleate . Protium hydrogen atoms (H) are explicitly shown where they are replaced with deuterium atoms (D).