D-Ribose

D-Ribose (or ribose) is a sweet, crystalline, water-soluble powder. It is a naturally occurring 5-carbon sugar found in all living cells. Ribose is a component of RNA and therefore essential for living creatures. It is also a component of ATP, NADH, and other metabolism-related substances.

D-ribose is commonly found in foods, especially foods high in RNA (ribonucleic acid), such as brewer’s yeast. D-ribose is essential for life and can be made by the body (e.g., from glucose). However, d-ribose from food sources can significantly boost the amount of ribose available to the body, thereby enhancing processes that utilize it.

The biological importance of ribose relates to the fact that it is the rate-limiting compound that regulates the activity of the purine nucleotide pathway of adenine nucleotide metabolism. As such, ribose plays a central role in the synthesis of ATP, coenzyme-A, flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), DNA, RNA, and other important cellular constituents. Ribose is the only known compound the body can use for performing this critical metabolic function.

Specifically, ribose administration bypasses the slow and rate-limited pentose phosphate pathway to stimulate adenine nucleotide synthesis and salvage in vivo. In addition, it has been shown that de novo adenine nucleotide synthesis in skeletal muscle is rate limited by the availability of ribose.

Ribose derivatives play a significant role in the body. Important ribose derivatives encompass those having phosphate groups attached at the 5 position, including mono-, di-, and triphosphate forms, and 3-5 cyclic monophosphates. Diphosphate dimers, known as coenzymes, form an essential class of compounds with ribose. When such purine and pyrimidine derivatives are coupled with ribose, they are known as nucleosides (bases attached to ribose). Phosphorylated nucleosides are known as nucleotides. When adenine (a purine derivative) is coupled to ribose it is known as adenosine. ATP is the 5’-triphosphate derivative of adenosine. (The adenine portion of ATP consists of ribose and adenine. The triphosphate portion of ATP consists of three phosphate molecules.)

Ribose therefore is found in many important biological molecules, including adenosine triphosphate (ATP), nucleotides and nucleotide enzymes, and in RNA. D-ribose (as ribonucleoside diphosphates) notably converts to deoxyribonucleoside diphosphates, precursor molecules for DNA.

Ribose generates adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the body. Supplemental ribose increases the rate at which ATP is generated, thereby improving exercise performance and enabling faster muscle growth. This is possible because supplemental ribose enables the body to bypass the conversion steps needed to create or re-create the adenosine nucleotide. Replacing adenine nucleotides normally takes time for the body to accomplish, and this process can reduce the rate of healing and repair (e.g., of muscle fibers). Basically, supplemental ribose can increase the speed at which adenosine nucleotides can be replaced by providing raw material for the creation of more ATP.

Ribose similarly has been shown to boost synthesis and salvage of other nucleotides in the body, including those found in heart and skeletal muscle. Supplemental ribose again bypasses the rate-limiting conversion processes (i.e., of the pentose phosphate pathway), thereby speeding synthesis of nucleotides that provide energy to these tissues.

Ribose as a Significant Component of Nucleic Acids

Nucleotides are the molecular building blocks of DNA and RNA. They are chemical compounds consisting of a heterocyclic base, a 5-carbon sugar (ribose or deoxyribose) and at least one phosphate group. They are the monomers of nucleic acids, and 3 or more can bond together to form a nucleic acid.

Nucleosides are glycosylamines consisting of a base (or nucleobase) to a ribose (or deoxyribose) ring. Some nucleosides are cytidine, adenosine, guanosine, and inosine. When nucleosides are phosphorylated in cells, they produce nucleotides (see above).

Given the importance of ribose as an essential part of nucleic acids, nucleotides, nucleosides, its role in the production of energy (as ATP), and its ability to increase synthesis and salvage of nucleotides in the body, the inclusion of ribose in a formula designed to provide high levels of nucleic acids appears especially appropriate.