MIXED PHOSPHOLIPIDS

What are mixed phospholipids?

Phospholipids are lipids or fats found in human cell membranes on the outer edge and within the cell. The phospholipid membrane protects the cell from intruders and helps compartmentalize it into separate units where cell processes take place [^[1]].

Many phospholipids exist in the human cell membrane, including phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatic acid, and cardiolipin [^[1]].

What do mixed phospholipids do in the body?

Research shows that lipid replacement therapy can improve mitochondria function and cell health more generally. In lipid replacement therapy, a person takes a nutritional supplement with antioxidants and a mix of many phospholipids, such as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine, phosphatidylinositol, and phosphatidylethanolamine. The lipids obtained through dietary means are then replaced by the damaged lipids in the cells [^[2]]. Phospholipids also have an emerging role in the aging process [^[1]].

How can mixed phospholipids help alleviate certain Long COVID symptoms and pathophysiology? 

Phospholipids are the most important class of lipids that are dysregulated in both acute COVID-19 infection and Long COVID. Levels of phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine are elevated in COVID-19 patients admitted to emergency rooms. In a study of hospitalized patients, lipid metabolism was dysregulated in hospitalized COVID-19 patients and remained so for several months after the acute infection phase [^[3]].

Lipid replacement therapy can be used in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome to deliver undamaged lipids into cellular organelles, which in humans are enveloped in a membrane. Research studying people with chronic fatigue shows that lipid replacement therapy plus antioxidants helps restore mitochondrial function and also improves fatigue [^[2]].