7 Tips for using mucuna pruriens in Parkinson's disease: A plant-based form of dopamine
I have for many years been taking care of people with Parkinson’s disease (M.O.). Many of these people live in different regions all over the world. I have been fascinated about complementary therapies for Parkinson’s disease. I am open minded toward the potential use of mucuna. I have personally found the plant-based drug mucuna particularly useful in folks living with “brittle” Parkinson’s disease.
Brittle Parkinson’s disease is when very small doses of carbidopa/levodopa (1/4 or 1/2 tablets) precipitate dyskinesia. Could “light” or small doses of mucuna be useful for this and other indications? My own experience has been YES. It is however, really frustrating, as the available mucuna products are not regulated and do not contain consistent amounts of levodopa.
Finally, there is a possibility in the near future that we could grow plant-based legumes in areas of the world without proper access to dopamine. I am very excited by this possibility. In this week’s blog, we will dive into mucuna, and start a dialogue.
Is there a plant that has dopamine which can be used
to treat Parkinson’s disease?
Mucuna pruriens is actually a “real thing” and can be an alternative to over-the-counter levodopa.
It is a legume. Scientists call it a leguminous plant.
It grows in both tropical and subtropical environments.
Contained in the seeds is actually levodopa.
Have there been clinical trials of mucuna for
Parkinson’s?
Yes. The most notable was conducted in 2004 by Katzenschlager.
It was a double blind study.
There were 8 Parkinson's disease participants.
The design was randomized, double-blind and the groups were crossed over.
You got either single doses of 50/200 mg carbidopa/levodopa or 15 and 30 grams of mucuna.
The mucuna group had a faster onset of effect (34.6 v 68.5 minutes; p = 0.021).
“On” dopamine time was longer with mucuna.
The authors used a processed pill form of mucuna.
Roberto Cilia and colleagues have published many papers on mucuna.
Cilia has looked at a completely natural, not pharmacologically processed mucuna.
The mucuna was from roasted mucuna seeds.
Motor improvements in 18 participants were similar.
In the Cilia study there was less dyskinesia and adverse events with mucuna.
Higher dose mucuna had a better "on" response and a longer duration of action.
Is Mucuna safe?
Maybe.
It actually depends on the formulation and/or way it is prepared. Most preparations we lack the information to make a safety decision.
Please be cautious using mucuna as studies have been in general small and the types of mucuna can be far different from each other.
What is the evidence you can isolate dopamine from
the mucuna seeds?
There was a paper by Ramaswamy in 1937 in the Biochemistry Journal. (Isolation of l-3:4-dihydroxyphenylalanine from the seeds of Mucuna pruriens).
These original studies and other who have followed these authors have shown that the most pure “mucuna pruriens seeds are approximately 4-6% L-dopa.”
There was a drug screen performed in the early 1970’s and multiple species of mucuna plants/seeds and it showed similar levels of mucuna (4-6%) in many species.
Mucuna pruriens was overall the best form in this study and in other studies. We are learning more about other formulations so this may or may not remain true into the future.
It is advised you do not touch the pod surrounding the mucuna beans.
The pod has a velvet like skin with tiny hairs.
Touch the pod will lead to a skin reaction.
Can we make a low cost preparation of mucuna
available in areas of the world experiencing access
issues?
Yes.
Cassani E, Cilia R, and colleagues in the Journal of Neurological Sciences shared some really great information on preparations.
They shared that “boiling the beans, soaking them for 15 hours followed by boiling them for 90 min, reduced the levels of L-dopa by 70% compared to dried or roasted beans (which both contained 5.3% L-dopa).”
Roasting is defined as when you cook the beans in a pan at 150 degrees for 15 minutes.
You have to wait for the casings to burst.
Interestingly when they burst it sounds like popcorn.
The pan is taken off the heat source.
Your roasted beans can be ground in a coffee grinder.
They then passed the product through a sieve.
They added to a soup or water as a powder.
Why do we not currently recommend you make your
own mucuna?
CASSINI AND CILIA FROM THEIR RECENT ARTICLE; MAKING MUCUNA PREPARATIONS:
CASSANI E, CILIA R, LAGUNA J, BARICHELLA M, CONTIN M, CEREDA E, ISAIAS IU, SPARVOLI F, AKPALU A, BUDU KO, SCARPA MT, PEZZOLI G. MUCUNA PRURIENS FOR PARKINSON'S DISEASE: LOW-COST PREPARATION METHOD, LABORATORY MEASURES AND PHARMACOKINETICS PROFILE. J NEUROL SCI. 2016 JUN 15;365:175-80. DOI: 10.1016/J.JNS.2016.04.001. EPUB 2016 APR 16. PMID: 27206902.
You should be aware that making your own mucuna can be dangerous as there may be toxic elements in mucuna and especially certain mucuna plants.
At this time we do not recommend that you attempt to make your own mucuna until a little more research has been performed.
There are many cases in the literature showing toxicity from ingestion.
One example case was a Hawaiian grown mucuna leading to abdominal pain, nausea and other severe effects.
When preparing mucuna there is a concern that if not performed properly there can be toxic chemicals and products produced. Cilia and colleagues have been publishing and helping us to better understand these issues.
Since Mucuna is sold as an over the counter and
internet based product which one do I buy if I want to
try it?
We don’t know.
In the USA and in many countries mucuna is not regulated.
People have been trying various formulations and products and some are strong dosages and some are weak.
Some formulations are rich in dopamine, and some may have no dopamine at all.
We are hopeful with better testing, there will be more transparency and more information on the manufacturing process.
We will soon be able to better advise people seeking to try mucuna.
If you order mucuna off the internet, be careful.
We strongly recommend working with your doctors and working with your care team to be sure that proper monitoring and advice can be offered prior to any trials of mucuna. Your care team may or may not be able to direct you to safer and more reliable mucuna products.
Selected references:
Rai SN, Chaturvedi VK, Singh P, Singh BK, Singh MP. Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson's and in some other diseases: recent advancement and future prospective. 3 Biotech. 2020 Dec;10(12):522. doi: 10.1007/s13205-020-02532-7. Epub 2020 Nov 10. PMID: 33194526; PMCID: PMC7655893.
Cilia R, Laguna J, Cassani E, Cereda E, Pozzi NG, Isaias IU, Contin M, Barichella M, Pezzoli G. Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson disease: A double-blind, randomized, controlled, crossover study. Neurology. 2017 Aug 1;89(5):432-438. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000004175. Epub 2017 Jul 5. PMID: 28679598; PMCID: PMC5539737.
Fothergill-Misbah N, Maroo H, Cham M, Pezzoli G, Walker R, Cilia R. Could Mucuna pruriens be the answer to Parkinson's disease management in sub-Saharan Africa and other low-income countries worldwide? Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2020 Apr;73:3-7. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2020.03.002. Epub 2020 Mar 10. PMID: 32179240.
Katzenschlager R, Evans A, Manson A, Patsalos PN, Ratnaraj N, Watt H, Timmermann L, Van der Giessen R, Lees AJ. Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson's disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2004 Dec;75(12):1672-7. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.2003.028761. PMID: 15548480; PMCID: PMC1738871.
Cassani E, Cilia R, Laguna J, Barichella M, Contin M, Cereda E, Isaias IU, Sparvoli F, Akpalu A, Budu KO, Scarpa MT, Pezzoli G. Mucuna pruriens for Parkinson's disease: Low-cost preparation method, laboratory measures and pharmacokinetics profile. J Neurol Sci. 2016 Jun 15;365:175-80. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2016.04.001. Epub 2016 Apr 16. PMID: 27206902.