What do proteolytic enzymes do?
Peptidases (short for peptide bond hydrolases) are enzymes that can break down proteins or peptides. In doing so, they catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds. Peptidases are also often referred to as proteases, proteinases, or proteolytic enzymes, especially when larger proteins are broken down.
Peptidases are known in all human and animal organisms primarily as digestive enzymes in the stomach and intestines, where they catalyze the breakdown of dietary protein. Special peptidases, the prolyl peptidases, can even break down gluten, which is otherwise indigestible.
But by no means only that. Peptidases are ubiquitous, i.e., they occur in all tissues and cells of all organisms, where they perform a wide variety of tasks. Enzymes are key players in metabolism. Without proteolytic enzymes, life is not possible. They are the catalysts without which no remodeling or breakdown of proteins or peptides can take place. All compartments and structures of the body consist of protein-containing compounds: cells, tissues, blood, organs, skin, and bones – proteases and peptidases help maintain them.
When proteins or protein-containing structures of the body are no longer needed, are damaged, or even harmful, they are broken down by peptidases. The body also uses this mechanism to defend against invading pathogens, such as bacteria, viruses, or spike proteins. These likewise consist of protein structures and can be broken down and degraded by proteases.
This is why proteolytic enzymes are found in many body fluids, where they perform, in some cases, highly specific tasks, such as the peptidases of the blood coagulation system, the complement system, and the fibrinolytic system.
»Our cells engage in protein production, and many of those proteins are enzymes responsible for the chemistry of life.«
Randy Schekmann (cell biologist & Nobel laureate)
What is a fibrinolytic enzyme?
A fibrinolytic enzyme brings fibrin into lysis, i.e., into dissolution. Fibrin is the clotting agent of the blood, whose task is to close wounds in the event of injury. However, fibrin is also involved in varicose veins, bruises, blood clumping, and vascular deposits.
The function of a fibrinolytic enzyme is to dissolve these fibrin-containing protein structures throughout the entire organism. As a systemic enzyme, it can therefore be effective in different compartments of the body, i.e., not only in the intestine but also in the bloodstream, tissues, and brain. It contributes to cleansing the blood and thereby to normalizing its flow properties as well as blood pressure. This, in turn, promotes the supply of oxygen and nutrients to the tissues; on the other hand, the removal of metabolic waste and toxins improves, which in turn helps reduce inflammation and swelling and the associated discomfort. Good circulation also protects the cardiovascular system and the brain.
What is prolyl peptidase?
Prolyl peptidase has the special ability to cleave the amino acid proline. With proline, gluten, the so-called adhesive protein from grain products, protects itself from digestion. Many people have developed gluten sensitivity, even inflammatory intestinal conditions, which can be calmed by reducing gluten or by breaking down gluten using proline-cleaving enzymes.
The specialty of prolyl peptidase is the cleavage of particularly resistant proline compounds, with which foreign proteins, such as those found in bacteria, viruses, and their spike proteins, protect themselves from the body’s own defenses and digestion.
ProZYM plus provides a prolyl oligopeptidase that is enzymatically active in the universal pH range and can therefore be systemically effective in different compartments of the body. This means that its area of action is not limited to the intestine; proline-containing peptide structures can also be cleaved in tissues or in the blood.
