SS-31 Peptide (Elamipretide) Health Benefits

Though oxygen and proper nutrients are essential for sustaining life. Which is, of course, true, but our survival and wellbeing also depends on tiny organelles called mitochondria. You probably already heard the expression “mitochondria are the powerhouse of the cell”, but what does that actually mean?

Simply put, they are the primary sites of cellular respiration – a process through which our body converts nutrients into the main energy our cells use. If a mitochondria malfunctions, it negatively affects general aging, heart function, leads to fatigue, and the emergence of both acute and chronic diseases.

So, if you are struggling with low energy and want to promote healthy aging, repairing your mitochondria is vital. And this is where SS-31 comes in. One of its main benefits is mitochondrial optimization, for longevity and repair.

What is SS-31 and How it Benefits Mitochondrial Health?

Also known as Elamipretide, SS-31 is a synthetic peptide, composed of D-Arg-dimethylTyr-Lys-Phe-NH2. This peptide was developed by researchers who were studying mitochondrial dysfunction in degenerative diseases.

They discovered that SS-31 penetrates mitochondrial membrane and binds to cardiolipin – a unique phospholipid that plays a major role in maintaining mitochondrial structure, function, and energy productions.

By binding to cardiolipin, SS-31 peptide directly affects cellular energy production and physical endurance.

SS-31 Mechanism Of Action

As already mentioned, SS-31 or Elamipretide, acts by directly binding and interacting with cardiolipin, which is essential for:

Mitochondrial respiration
ATP (adenosine triphosphate) production. ATP breaks down glucose and other molecules to produce energy
Mitochondrial integrity, shape and function

As we age, cardiolipin gets damaged which leads to:

Reduced ATP production
Membrane leakage
Overall cell dysfunction and death

Studies showed that introducing SS-31 may lead to the following benefits:

Preserving mitochondrial function
Improved ATP synthesis
Improved cell respiration
Enhanced mitochondrial efficiency

SS-31’s Physical Endurance Benefits

It’s not a very well known fact, but our ability to perform and endure physical activity comes from the mitochondria, and the energy it produces. And if there’s a dysfunction or a problem with its function, you will likely experience the lack of energy and an overall drop in physical endurance.

We’ve seen numerous studies involving SS-31’s effect on physical endurance, one of which, done on mice, showed that 8-week treatment resulted in improvements in skeletal muscle function, exercise tolerance, muscle tonus, and an overall improvement in endurance in older mice.

Another, human-test subject study was set up to investigate the effects of SS-31 peptide in patients suffering from Barth syndrome (a rare syndrome characterized by muscle weakness, immune deficiency and growth delay).

This 12-week study showed improvements in syndrome overall symptoms and improvement in cardiac health, which prompted the intention to propose SS-31 for FDA approval for treating Barth syndrome.

SS-31 and Cognitive Impairment

Though administering SS-31 will not directly improve cognitive function, there is some research showing interesting indirect effects.

We know that SS-31 administration improves cell respiration, ATP function, and cardiovascular health, therefore researchers set out to determine if these improvements lead to improvements in cognition.

Eventually, a two-week, small-scale study was carried out in aged mice, to see if these assumptions hold any merit. As it turned out, they did; what the results showed was that the dilation of blood vessels in the brain led to the improvements in memory and motor skill learning.

Of course, further research is necessary, but these initial findings showed promising results and hope for the future.

Cardiovascular Diseases

SS-31’s positive effect on the overall physical endurance and capabilities is well known; we also know it has an overall positive effect on heart health, but the researchers wanted to go a step further – see if this peptide helps with cardiovascular disease prevention.

This is why an 8-week long study was carried out, where researchers used SS-31 on aged mice with a goal to reverse diastolic dysfunction. This damage reversal was accomplished by the reduction of reactive oxygen species in the cardiac muscle cells.

So, the final conclusion of the study was a positive one, as it showed that SS-31 peptide can, indeed, reverse age-related heart dysfunction in old mice.

Curious about the best recovery options? Explore our in-depth guide on the Top 7 Peptides for Recovery, where we cover their mechanisms, key benefits, and how they may support your research goals.

References:

Zhang, X., Zhang, Y., Zhang, M., Nakagawa, Y., Caballo, C. B., Szeto, H. H., Deng, X. H., & Rodeo, S. A. (2022). Evaluation of SS-31 as a Potential Strategy for Tendinopathy Treatment: An In Vitro Model. The American journal of sports medicine, 50(10), 2805–2816. https://doi.org/10.1177/03635465221107943
Escribano-López, I., de Marañon, A. M., Iannantuoni, F., López-Domènech, S., Abad-Jiménez, Z., Díaz, P., Solá, E., Apostolova, N., Rocha, M., & Víctor, V. M. (2019). The Mitochondrial Antioxidant SS-31 Modulates Oxidative Stress, Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, and Autophagy in Type 2 Diabetes. Journal of clinical medicine, 8(9), 1322. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm8091322
Campbell, M. D., Duan, J., Samuelson, A. T., Gaffrey, M. J., Merrihew, G. E., Egertson, J. D., Wang, L., Bammler, T. K., Moore, R. J., White, C. C., Kavanagh, T. J., Voss, J. G., Szeto, H. H., Rabinovitch, P. S., MacCoss, M. J., Qian, W. J., & Marcinek, D. J. (2019). Improving mitochondrial function with SS-31 reverses age-related redox stress and improves exercise tolerance in aged mice. Free radical biology & medicine, 134, 268–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2018.12.031
Whitson, J. A., Martín-Pérez, M., Zhang, T., Gaffrey, M. J., Merrihew, G. E., Huang, E., White, C. C., Kavanagh, T. J., Qian, W. J., Campbell, M. D., MacCoss, M. J., Marcinek, D. J., Villén, J., & Rabinovitch, P. S. (2021). Elamipretide (SS-31) treatment attenuates age-associated post-translational modifications of heart proteins. GeroScience, 43(5), 2395–2412. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11357-021-00447-6
Pang, Y., Wang, C., & Yu, L. (2015). Mitochondria-Targeted Antioxidant SS-31 is a Potential Novel Ophthalmic Medication for Neuroprotection in Glaucoma. Medical hypothesis, discovery & innovation ophthalmology journal, 4(3), 120–126.