Succinate and the End of Toxic Medicine? Quantum Biology as the New Standard

By Paul Leonard, Dr. Mikhail Kozhurin

Introduction: The Untapped Power of Succinate—Nature’s Quantum Signaling Molecule

What if the key to solving some of the most challenging health issues we face today—whether it’s maximizing human performance, combating stress, or responding to illness—was already built into our biology? What if this solution didn’t come from synthetic drugs, laden with side effects and potential toxicity, but from a simple, natural molecule that has been evolving alongside us for millions of years?

Meet succinate—a powerhouse metabolite that operates at the very heart of the body’s energy systems and stress response mechanisms. Often overlooked as just a byproduct of cellular respiration, succinate is far more than a metabolic intermediate. This endogenous molecule plays a central role in balancing the body’s energy demands and cellular functions. In times of stress, whether from physical exertion, psychological pressure, or infection, succinate steps in, driving key adaptive processes that optimize performance, promote healing, and maintain homeostasis—all without the toxicity or unpredictable side effects seen with synthetic compounds.

What makes succinate so special isn’t just its role in energy production—it’s its conformational flexibility. Unlike synthetic analogues, which are rigid and often overstimulate receptors, succinate’s ability to shift its structure allows it to communicate with the body in a highly adaptive, quantum-driven manner. This flexibility enables it to respond to a variety of environmental conditions, sending the right signals to the right tissues, and in the process, inducing cascades of beneficial biological responses across the entire system. This quantum adaptability is something synthetic molecules, no matter how sophisticated, can never replicate.

In the following stories, we will trace the journey of succinate as it takes on the challenges posed by different stressors—whether it’s an Olympic athlete pushing their body to the limits, an individual facing psychological stress, or the immune system’s response to a viral infection. We’ll explore how this simple molecule not only drives energy production but also serves as a quantum signaling molecule, capable of orchestrating complex physiological responses in real time—responses that promote survival, recovery, and optimization.

Far from being just another molecule, succinate’s role in our body is an untapped, powerful force for good. Yet, in a world that prioritizes synthetic drugs for profit, we are only beginning to understand just how much we can rely on nature’s own molecules, like succinate, to achieve healthier, more effective outcomes. So why continue down the path of synthetic molecules when nature has already perfected the solution?

The following stories will show you why succinate, with its flexible, quantum nature, may just be the ultimate key to unlocking human potential—without the cost of toxicity.

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Glossary of Key Terms:

- Succinate: An endogenous metabolite produced in the mitochondria as part of the Krebs cycle, crucial for energy production and cellular signaling. It plays a key role in metabolic regulation, stress response, and is increasingly recognized as a signaling molecule with quantum effects.

- Quantum Biology: The study of quantum mechanical phenomena in biological processes. It explores how quantum effects, such as superposition, coherence, and entanglement, influence cellular signaling and energy transfer in living systems.

- Endogenous Molecules: Molecules naturally produced within an organism, as opposed to external substances or drugs. Succinate is an example of an endogenous molecule involved in metabolic and signaling pathways.

- Metabolic Flexibility: The ability of cells or organisms to adapt to changes in nutrient availability and energy demands. Succinate’s role in shifting between aerobic and anaerobic metabolic pathways highlights its importance in metabolic flexibility.

- Conformational Flexibility: The ability of a molecule to change its shape or structure in response to environmental conditions. Succinate’s conformational flexibility enables it to interact with multiple receptors and initiate adaptive responses without toxicity.

- Blood-Brain Barrier: A selective permeability barrier that protects the brain from potentially harmful substances in the bloodstream. Succinate’s ability to cross this barrier and influence brain signaling is a key aspect of its role in whole-body responses.

- GPR91 (SCNR1): A G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) that is activated by succinate. Found on various cells, GPR91 plays a significant role in regulating blood flow, inflammation, and immune responses.

- Hypoxia: A condition in which tissues are deprived of adequate oxygen. Succinate plays a critical role in cellular responses to hypoxia by signaling through GPR91 to initiate adaptive processes like angiogenesis and glucose metabolism.

- HIF (Hypoxia-Inducible Factor): A transcription factor activated under low oxygen conditions (hypoxia). Succinate triggers HIF activation, which regulates gene expression involved in angiogenesis, metabolic changes, and cellular adaptation to stress.

- Angiogenesis: The process of new blood vessel formation. Succinate promotes angiogenesis by activating HIF and other signaling pathways, ensuring oxygen and nutrients are delivered to tissues in need.

- Glycolysis: A metabolic pathway that breaks down glucose into pyruvate, generating ATP in the absence of oxygen. While less efficient than oxidative phosphorylation, succinate facilitates glycolysis during low-oxygen conditions (hypoxia).

- Lactic Acid Cycle: A metabolic process where lactate is produced from pyruvate, mainly under anaerobic conditions. Succinate contributes to the initiation of the lactic acid cycle, especially when oxygen is scarce.

- Gluconeogenesis: The process by which glucose is synthesized from non-carbohydrate precursors. Succinate influences gluconeogenesis during times of energy stress to maintain blood glucose levels.

- Paracrine Signaling: A form of cell signaling where a cell produces a signal that affects nearby cells, often via secreted molecules. Succinate’s role in paracrine signaling helps coordinate the cellular response to hypoxia and stress across tissues.

- ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate): The primary energy carrier in cells, produced in the mitochondria during oxidative phosphorylation. Succinate is a key intermediate in the Krebs cycle that helps generate ATP.

- Mitochondria: Organelles in cells that generate ATP through oxidative phosphorylation. Succinate is produced in the mitochondria as part of the Krebs cycle and plays a key role in cellular energy production.

- Quantum Effects: Phenomena in which quantum mechanics, such as superposition and entanglement, influence biological processes. Succinate’s conformational flexibility and ability to induce quantum effects may contribute to its unique signaling properties.

- Adaptive Signaling: The ability of biological systems to adjust and optimize responses to changing conditions. Succinate’s role in activating adaptive responses during stress, injury, or exercise highlights its importance in maintaining balance within the body.

- Stress Response: The physiological processes that help an organism cope with stressors like exercise, infection, or injury. Succinate acts as a key mediator in the stress response by promoting adaptive metabolic and cellular changes.

- Non-Toxic Medicine: Health interventions that do not produce harmful side effects or toxicity. Succinate’s role in cellular signaling and healing processes presents it as a potential non-toxic alternative to synthetic drugs.

- Whole-Body Response: The coordinated physiological response of the entire organism to internal or external stress. Succinate plays a critical role in coordinating this response, from cellular signaling to systemic changes such as increased blood flow and metabolic shifts.

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1. The Olympic Athlete: Succinate’s Journey Through Exercise-Induced Hypoxia

Succinate begins its journey in the mitochondria of muscle cells, working in tandem with oxygen to generate ATP, the energy currency of the body. As an elite athlete, every movement is a finely-tuned orchestration of metabolic pathways, designed to perform at the highest levels. With each powerful stride, the athlete’s muscles work harder, and the demand for oxygen skyrockets. The body can’t keep up.

The athlete is now crossing the threshold into hypoxia, where there’s not enough oxygen to support the intense pace. Inside the mitochondria, succinate is a key player in the Krebs cycle, helping to produce ATP in the presence of oxygen. But as oxygen levels drop, succinate is pushed out of the mitochondria and into the cytosol—a cellular space that’s suddenly more critical than ever.

Now, succinate has more than just an energy-producing role. It is transformed into a signaling molecule—its journey has just begun. As it exits the mitochondria, it races toward the cell membrane, seeking the GPR91 receptor on the surface of muscle cells. Binding to this receptor activates a powerful cascade of events. Succinate doesn’t just give the muscle energy—it signals that the body is under stress and needs to adapt.

At the molecular level, succinate initiates the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) pathway. This transcription factor triggers metabolic shifts within the cell, turning on glycolysis, a less efficient but faster form of ATP production that doesn’t require oxygen. It also accelerates lactic acid fermentation to ensure ATP continues to flow, even in the absence of oxygen. But succinate’s role doesn’t end there.

As the muscles continue to push through the burn of exertion, succinate sends signals to the hypothalamus, the brain's command center. The hypothalamus processes this information and activates a whole-body response—directing resources to critical tissues, increasing heart rate, and triggering angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels) to deliver more oxygen to the stressed tissues. This is no longer just muscle fatigue; it’s a systemic response. Blood is diverted to the muscles, ensuring that the athlete can continue their performance and maximize their chances of success.

From the moment succinate exits the mitochondria, its journey becomes a story of survival, of adaptation, and of optimization. The cascade of beneficial actions ensures that the body can keep going, even in the face of extreme exertion. Eventually, the race is over, and succinate’s signaling continues to help the athlete recover. Oxygen returns to the tissues, lactate is cleared, and succinate’s role in adaptive homeostasis helps the muscles rebuild, stronger and more resilient than before.

2. External Stress: Succinate’s Role in Responding to Life’s Pressures

The day starts with the usual stresses—a pile of emails, looming deadlines, and a constant mental whirlwind. As external stress builds, the body responds by releasing adrenaline and cortisol, hormones that trigger the fight-or-flight response. These hormones prepare the body to act—whether to flee or fight—but they also activate a cascade of metabolic changes to deal with the increased demand for energy.

Succinate’s journey begins with the rapid redistribution of blood flow. The body diverts blood to critical areas like the heart and brain, preparing for action. However, this comes at a cost—tissues that are not directly involved in the stress response, such as the digestive organs and peripheral muscles, experience a temporary lack of oxygen. It’s in these areas where succinate steps in.

As cells sense the drop in oxygen, they begin to shift from aerobic (oxygen-dependent) metabolism to anaerobic metabolism. This means succinate, which normally resides in the mitochondria helping to generate ATP through the Krebs cycle, is now shunted out of the mitochondria and into the cytosol, where it acts as a metabolic signal to the rest of the body.

Once in the cytosol, succinate binds to the GPR91 receptor on the surface of cells. This binding activates the HIF pathway, turning on glycolysis to produce ATP more quickly, even in the absence of oxygen. Succinate also helps regulate lactate fermentation, ensuring energy production continues despite the oxygen deficit. These changes are critical for maintaining cellular function during stress.

But succinate doesn’t stop there. It signals to the hypothalamus in the brain, where it triggers a whole-body response. The hypothalamus helps coordinate the sympathetic nervous system, adjusting heart rate and blood pressure, while also activating angiogenesis, ensuring that blood flow is directed to the tissues in need. The body becomes primed for action—whether it's dealing with a stressful email, an unexpected meeting, or a sudden, more intense stressor.

As the stress continues, succinate ensures that the body’s resources are being conserved and used wisely. The brain helps direct metabolic energy to critical functions, while also mitigating the damage done by prolonged stress. Succinate’s role in adaptive homeostasis allows the body to cope with external pressures, maintaining stability and ensuring survival, even when everything feels out of control.

3. Viral Infection: Succinate’s Vital Role in Immune Response

In the body of someone fighting off a viral infection, succinate’s journey begins when the immune system is triggered by the presence of foreign pathogens. The body’s immune cells—such as macrophages and dendritic cells—recognize the virus and begin their attack. As the infection sets in, inflammation ensues, and blood flow to the infected areas increases. However, this rush of immune cells and inflammatory markers also leads to hypoxia in the affected tissues, a lack of oxygen caused by the increased metabolic demand of immune activity.

This is where succinate steps in, once again shifting from its primary role in the mitochondria to become a potent signaling molecule. As the oxygen supply drops, succinate is pushed out of the mitochondria and into the cytosol, where it signals through the GPR91 receptor on the surface of immune cells. This binding triggers a series of immune responses to help the body combat the infection.

Succinate plays a key role in driving glycolysis within immune cells, enabling them to generate ATP without relying on oxygen. It also triggers the HIF pathway, ensuring that immune cells are ready to fight the virus even under low-oxygen conditions. At the same time, succinate activates angiogenesis, helping to restore blood flow and oxygen to the infected tissues, ensuring that immune cells continue to receive the resources they need to fight off the pathogen.

As succinate’s signals reach the hypothalamus, the brain begins to orchestrate a whole-body immune response. The hypothalamus triggers fever to inhibit viral replication, redirects energy to immune cell activity, and manages the inflammatory response. Succinate also signals that other tissues need to conserve energy and oxygen, ensuring that the body can mount an effective defense without exhausting its resources.

This is not just a local response in the infected tissue; succinate’s role as a master regulator of immune function ensures that the entire body works in harmony to fight the infection. It signals across tissues and systems, helping the body maintain homeostasis while the immune system launches its battle against the virus.

Conclusion: Succinate—Nature’s Unsung Quantum Hero

In a world increasingly dominated by synthetic pharmaceuticals, it’s easy to overlook the most powerful tools we already have within us. Succinate, a natural molecule woven into the very fabric of our biology, is one of those overlooked marvels. From fueling energy production in the mitochondria to driving adaptive responses to stress, succinate’s role is far broader and more sophisticated than we’ve been led to believe. Its ability to induce quantum-level effects, driving complex, cascading biological responses without toxicity, positions it as a critical player in optimizing human health and performance.

Succinate is no ordinary metabolite. Its conformational flexibility—the ability to adapt and shape-shift in response to different physiological states—makes it a uniquely powerful signaler in the body. Where synthetic drugs are often rigid, crude, and prone to over-stimulation with unintended downstream effects, succinate is fluid, responsive, and capable of orchestrating a cascade of beneficial reactions that restore balance, promote healing, and enhance overall function. This is something synthetic molecules simply cannot replicate, no matter how advanced the technology behind them.

Perhaps most impressively, succinate doesn’t just act locally within the cell. Its ability to cross the blood-brain barrier underscores its significance as a master communicator within the body—capable of signaling the brain to initiate whole-body responses to stress, injury, and disease. The fact that this quantum signaling molecule is able to communicate across vast distances within the body, coordinating adaptive processes from tissue to organ, speaks to the extraordinary evolutionary sophistication built into our biological systems.

In the face of rising health challenges, whether they be related to athletic performance, chronic stress, or illness, succinate offers a path forward that is not only natural but fundamentally more aligned with our biology than any synthetic drug. By understanding and harnessing the power of succinate, we can sidestep the toxicities and limitations of traditional medicine and unlock a new era of health interventions that optimize rather than merely manage human potential.

The question is no longer, “Why should we rely on succinate?” but rather, “Why aren’t we leveraging it more effectively?”

In the end, succinate’s journey is the story of life itself, and its natural, quantum-driven adaptability makes it one of the most exciting—and underappreciated—tools in the future of medicine. The path forward is clear: embrace the power of nature’s own molecules, like succinate, and let them guide us toward more effective, non-toxic, and sustainable solutions for human health. The age of synthetic drugs may have reigned, but the age of quantum biology and natural intelligence has only just begun.

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Paul Leonard is the president and CEO of Activate Biophysics Corp. (Vancouver, BC). Activate Biophysics collaborates with leading medical research institutes throughout the world to develop and bring to market effective, non-toxic interventions based upon cellular signaling to induce whole-body, adaptive responses in optimizing human immunity and function. The company has collaborated with major sports leagues, extreme athletes and members of elite armed forces units in optimizing energetics and recovery.

Dr. Mikhail Kozhurin leads research teams at the Almazov National Medical Research Centre (St. Petersburg, Russia), one of the largest and most advanced medical research centres in the world. Dr. Kozhurin is a nationally recognized proponent for and contributor to the development of a number of non-toxic treatments and interventions based on peptides and proteins.  Dr. Kozhurin has studied the effects of non-toxic succinate in more than a dozen GCP human trials.