Serrapeptase & Nattokinase the Proteolytic Fibrin Busters
Are you worried about all those scary clots you may have seen on social media? Or, do you want a simple supplement that can potentially help with your overall circulatory system?
If yes, there are two proteolytic enzymes that have been studied for their clot protection/dissolving qualities that may also have numerous other benefits!
Meet Serrapeptase & Nattokinase!
First things first, what even are proteolytic enzymes and how do they work?
At the most basic level proteolytic enzymes are a class of enzyme that digests and breaks down proteins. Now this isn’t exciting in and of itself, however, the kind of proteins they break down and the mechanisms with which they do so make Nattokinase and Serrapeptase truly special in the supplement realm.
Nattokinase
Nattokinase specifically is a serine (amino acid) protease that breaks down proteins by splitting the proteins' peptide bonds that normally hold it tightly together. This makes it fantastic at targeting fibrin, a type of protein produced/accumulated in the body when blood vessels are damaged. Fibrin acts as a kind of net like scaffold, stabilizing the damaged area and helping immune cells travel to and fro repairing damage.
Now, our body produces fibrin all the time via the enzyme thrombin which allows our body to produce and form fibrin strands. It uses Factor XIII to cross tie and stabilize it into place, and once all the repair work is complete, fibrinolysis (the breaking down of fibrin) begins, and the body produces plasmin to clear everything away.
A good example is a standard bruise, let's say on your shin. Without fibrin the damaged vessels would just keep bleeding internally and would spread across your whole leg. The fibrin netting is what holds the bruise itself together while your body fixes you up, slowly fading as the fibrin and clotting is cleared away.
Unfortunately problems can begin, depending on the person, when:
The size of the web becomes too dense, preventing our natural enzymes from penetrating completely
It forms in areas that it shouldn't
The rate at which it’s repaired outpaces its breakdown due to inflammation or high blood pressure
There are personal and unique genetic variabilities that effect clotting
This can cause excess platelets and red blood cells to build up and potentially lead to excessive clotting which is associated with thrombosis, heart attacks, and strokes.
There are even some bacteria like Staphylococcus aureus (commonly known as MRSA), a bacteria that causes hard to treat Staph infections, that can hijack and weave our bodies fibrin into a biofilm shell protecting them from our immune system and even antibiotics. This can make certain infections more difficult to treat and in many cases can lead to reinfection even after a full treatment course has been followed.
Now, more controversially, fibrin has also been associated with COVID-19 specifically SARS-CoV-2’s spike proteins which have been shown to physically bind to fibrinogen and potentially cause the scary long dense clots seen on social media. These clots don’t form properly and tend to take an amyloid shape (amyloid proteins are also heavily associated with Alzheimer's disease) and are much harder for our body to break down.
The larger clots are exactly as you’d expect and cause cardiovascular risk, whereas a lot of microclots can be formed as well (due to the size and distribution of the spike proteins) which is suspected to be behind the fatigue and brain fog associated with what's known as “long covid” and, anecdotally, the vaccines in some cases.
Now this is where Proteolytic enzymes can really shine.
Nattokinase has much more potency and efficacy when compared to our body's natural enzymes, depending on the study up to 4-6 times more so! It directly shears and dissolves cross-linked fibrin allowing it to not just breakdown the fibrin itself but also penetrate deeper into the web than our body can. While it is doing that, it also signals to the body to upregulate natural plasmin enzyme production (via t-PA or tissue-type plasminogen activator), essentially calling for reinforcements against the clot.
These beneficial effects may also act in a preventive way. In one study conducted on young healthy men, just one dose of Nattokinase was enough to promote healthy coagulation by starting to break apart fibrin before it becomes problematic.
Now, although the main appeal of Nattokinase and the focus of most studies conducted with it, is in its clot busting reputation. I find the potential neuroprotective effects even more fascinating. As mentioned before, NK has been shown to be effective against amyloid proteins. This opens up huge possibilities for Alzheimer's research and prevention being that amyloid proteins are a main hallmark of Alzheimer's style dementia (amyloid-beta fibrils + plaque aggregates that is).
Although studies so far have been limited to lab dishes and animal tests, the results are promising! If the research currently done is shown to cross over well into humans, then NK may serve as a baseline for any Neuroprotective/nootropic stack/routine. Especially in the case of known familial risks (this hits close to home for me as my own grandfather unfortunately passed away from this same disease, and after seeing how slow and devastating it is for a family to go through I truly hope it does get shown to help fight/prevent it).
Serrapeptase
Serratiopeptidase, serratia peptidase, or most commonly Serrapeptase, similar to Nattokinase is another powerful proteolytic enzyme. Produced by the microorganism Serratia, it was originally found in silkworms, which utilize it to dissolve their tough fibrous cocoon and emerge safely as an adorable moth. Since its discovery it has had a nearly 30 year history of use for human health in both Asia and Europe.
Serrapeptase is also known as a systemic enzyme, which means it's able to be absorbed directly in our intestines and enter into the bloodstream in its active form.
Although it has a lot of overlapping benefits with Nattokinase, as explained above, it also has some additional benefits that are of note too. Most notably Serrapeptase acts on a wider range of proteins than NK does and is able to help the body breakdown dead and damaged tissues themselves, not just the clotting/fibrin. This has a few different benefits namely;
Reducing swelling by decreasing fluid buildup (edema) after surgery/injury
Potentially reducing inflammation and pain by breaking down certain pain signaling molecules (early studies seem positive but newer better controlled studies are still needed)
Helping to break down biofilms and allow antibiotics to do their jobs more effectively
Helping to break down/reduce the viscosity of mucus in the nose and lungs
Taken together they seem like a perfect match to maximize and broaden their potential overall benefits vs being taken alone.
All this being said, both enzymes, due to their nature of helping break down fibrin, may cause complication for people taking blood thinners or those who have preexisting clotting disorders. Please consult your doctor to ensure that these enzymes are a safe fit for your health.
If your interested in learning more or want to give these enzymes a try for yourself feel free to click the product image below to be taken to its product page:
I hope you have found this post informative and I truly hope you have a fantastic rest of your day!
“What Is the Biological and Clinical Relevance of Fibrin?”
“A single-dose of oral nattokinase potentiates thrombolysis and anti-coagulation profiles”
“Early fibrin biofilm development in cardiovascular infections”
“Structure, Mechanics, and Instability of Fibrin Clot Infected with Staphylococcus epidermidis”
"A single-dose of oral nattokinase potentiates thrombolysis and anti-coagulation profiles"
“Clotting proteins linked to Long Covid’s brain fog”
“Microclots in Long COVID: Understanding Their Role in Chronic Inflammation and Neurocognitive Dysfunction”
“COVID‐19 patient fibrinogen produces dense clots with altered polymerization kinetics, partially explained by increased sialic acid” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9537908/
“Nattokinase: A Promising Alternative in Prevention and Treatment of Cardiovascular Diseases”
“Serrapeptase and nattokinase intervention for relieving Alzheimer's disease pathophysiology in rat model”
“Amyloid-degrading ability of nattokinase from Bacillus subtilis natto”
“Nattokinase prevents β-amyloid peptide (Aβ1-42) induced neuropsychiatric complications, neuroinflammation and BDNF signalling disruption in mice”
"Intestinal absorption of serrapeptase (TSP) in rats"
"Serratiopeptidase: An integrated View of Multifaceted Therapeutic Enzyme"
"Effect of the proteolytic enzyme serrapeptase on swelling, pain and trismus after surgical extraction of mandibular third molars"
"Proteolytic enzymes: a new treatment strategy for prosthetic infections?"
"Effect of the proteolytic enzyme serrapeptase in patients with chronic airway disease"
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