Nattokinase

Fibrin is a protein that forms in the blood after trauma or injury. This is essential to stop excess blood loss. There are more than twenty enzymes in the body that assist in clotting the blood, while only one that can break the clot down (plasmin). Bacteria, viruses, fungi and toxins present in the blood also trigger an inflammatory condition resulting in excess cross-linked fibrin. Since there is no danger of blood loss and trauma has not occurred, this cross-linked fibrin will circulate through the blood and will stick to the walls of blood vessels. This contributes to the formation of blood clots, slows blood flow and increases blood viscosity contributing to the elevation of blood pressure. In the heart, blood clots cause blockage of blood flow to heart muscle tissue. If blood flow is blocked, the oxygen supply to that tissue is partially cut off (ischemia) which results in angina and heart attacks, or if prolonged, death of heart muscle (necrosis). Clots in chambers of the heart can mobilize to the brain, blocking blood and oxygen from reaching necessary areas, which can result in senility and/or stroke.⁹

Thrombolytic enzymes (enzymes that break down blood clots) are normally generated in the endothelial cells of the blood vessels. As the body ages, production of these enzymes begins to decline, making blood more prone to coagulation. This mechanism can lead to cardiac or cerebral infarction, as well as other conditions. Since endothelial cells exist throughout the body, such as in the arteries, veins and lymphatic system, poor production of thrombolytic enzymes can lead to the development of blood clots and the conditions caused by them, virtually anywhere in the body.¹⁵

It has recently been revealed that thrombotic clogging (blood clots) of the cerebral blood vessels may be a cause of dementia. It has been estimated that sixty percent of senile dementia patients in Japan is caused by thrombus. Thrombotic diseases typically include cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, cardiac infarction and angina pectoris, and also include diseases caused by blood vessels with lowered flexibility, including senile dementia and diabetes. If chronic diseases of the capillaries are also considered, then the number of thrombus related conditions might be much higher.

Cardiac infarction patients may have an inherent imbalance. Their thrombolytic enzymes are weaker than their coagulant enzymes. Nattokinase holds great promise to support patients with such inherent weaknesses in a convenient and consistent manner, without side effects. ⁹ ¹⁴ ¹⁵

Discovery of a Fibrinolytic Enzyme

Dr. Hiroyuki Sumi, M.D. (AKA, Dr. Natto) a researcher of the Japan Ministry of Education and majoring in the physiological chemistry at the blood laboratory of the University of Chicago, had long researched thrombolytic enzymes. He was searching for a natural agent that could successfully dissolve thrombus associated with cardiac and cerebral infarction (blood clots associated with heart attacks and stroke). One day in 1980 Dr. Sumi took the natto that he was eating for lunch and dropped a small portion into the artificial thrombus (fibrin) plate (Figure 1). The natto gradually dissolved the thrombus and completely resolved it in 18 hours! Dr. Sumi found that the sticky part of natto, commonly called “threads” (Figure 2), exhibited a strong fibrinolytic (“blood clot busting”) activity. He named the corresponding fibrinolytic enzyme “nattokinase”. Dr. Sumi commented that nattokinase showed “a potency matched by no other enzyme.” ⁹ ¹⁵

Dr. Sumi conducted research on about 200 kinds of food from all over the world, and he found that natto had the highest fibrinolytic (“blood clot busting”) activity among all those foods. There are many traditional foods for the prevention and treatment of thrombosis (e.g., azuki beans, Korean ginseng, Japanese water dropwort) but most of these foods inhibit platelet aggregation live aspirin. Only nattokinase acts only on the fibrinolytic system to dissolve thrombi within the blood vessels. In 1986, Dr. Sumi presented the results of his research in Japan for the first time at the Japan Agricultural Chemistry Society. Later he wrote a similar article for the International Thrombolytic Association where the audience began to believe that the dietary intake of natto was the major contributor to the longevity of Japanese people.