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Comment by Toast_ | Hacker News Reader

This isn't too surprising considering curcumin is a mitochondrial uncoupler[1][2]. For the curious, another example of a mitochondrial uncoupler would be 2,4-dinitrophenol, which is currently being looked into as a potential anti-Alzheimer treatment[3]. Cool stuff.

1: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19715674

2: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1567840/

3: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16754295

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Thanks for the references 1 and 2. I had no idea that curcumin was a mitochondrial uncoupler. Incidentally, I was looking at curcumin to help with my mitochondrial myopathy, but for its anti-inflammatory effects - I have a really hard time to recover from my workouts possibly due to a systemic inflammatory response caused by my genetic condition.

I have always thought that low-dose DNP would be a potentially good treatment for mitochondrial myopathies, as they induce mitochondrial biogenesis [1], but DNP can be dangerous and I have been hesitant to try it.

Maybe I just need to add curcumin to my current supplements regime.

[1] Caldeira da Silva, C. C., Cerqueira, F. M., Barbosa, L. F., Medeiros, M. H., & Kowaltowski, A. J. (2008). Mild mitochondrial uncoupling in mice affects energy metabolism, redox balance and longevity. Aging cell, 7(4), 552-560.

Any uncoupler ought to induce mitochondrial biogenesis, as it's a systemic response due to a lack of energy (I may be mistaken?)—same goes for [vascular] endothelial growth factor and EPO (just to name a few).

Also, I really can't recommend reading the paper associated with the third link enough.

Have you tried ephedrine to help with the post-workout swelling? The common 'ECA' stack might be right up your alley.

>>> Also, I really can't recommend reading the paper associated with the third link enough.

Just read it. Very interesting indeed.

>>>Have you tried ephedrine to help with the post-workout swelling? The common 'ECA' stack might be right up your alley.

Do you have any reference for this ? What is the mechanism of action ?

What is a mitochondrial uncoupler, and why would they help with neurological problems?

>What is a mitochondrial uncoupler...

Examine link #2.

>why would they help with neurological problems?

Good question—perhaps the alteration in ambient energy in the brain prevents certain proteins form forming (amyloid plaques in this case). Honestly, it's hard to tell; it's under active research.

That's a little bit of a hard read... but if I understand it correctly, they cause decrease efficiency of sugar->ATP conversion, and the indirect effect of that is to cause increase sugar consumption.

Here's a simplified version: energy generation in the mitochondria is based on the energy differential between the intermembrane space and the inner mitochondrial membrane (I may have confused those membranes). Most uncouplers act to reduce that differential, thus causing inefficiency in the system, which is lost as heat.

tl;dr uncouplers mess with H+ ions.

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