Mechanisms, interactions, effects

• Necessary for...
  • Sulfite oxidase (SO)
    • catalyses the oxidation of sulfite to sulfate, necessary for metabolism of sulfur amino acids. Sulfite oxidase deficiency or absence leads to neurological symptoms and early death.
    • Genova Labs (formerly Great Smokies), in their Application Guide (section 2) for the Liver Detoxification Profile, say "Molybdenum is a co-factor for sulfite oxidase ... insufficient molybdenum may be a rate-limiting nutrient for this reaction, and supplementation may be indicated."
  • Xanthine oxidase - catalyses oxidative hydroxylation of purines and pyridines including conversion of hypoxanthine to xanthine and xanthine to uric acid.
  • Aldehyde oxidase - oxidises purines, pyrimidines, pteridines and involved in nicotinic acid metabolism.
• Mercury binds Mo. [does this mean it will not show up in blood tests?]
• Genova Labs (same source) says "molybdenum, at high levels, can compete with sulfate in its activation step to PAPS as well as for carrier mediated renal tubular reabsorption, thus lowering sulfate levels and impairing sulfation capability. [So even though supplementation may be necessary if it's low, you also have to watch out about getting it too high.] Molybdenum status is therefore important in the assessment of poor sulfation capability.”

My Experience

Great Smokies Elemental Analysis indicated my molybdenum is within reference range, but if I've got a lot of tungsten in me it could decrease the effectiveness of the molybdenum.

(See Human sulfite oxidase deficiency. Characterization of the molecular defect in a multicomponent system, by J L Johnson and K V Rajagopalan, from J Clin Invest. 1976 September; 58(3): 551–556.)

Natural Sources

Dysfunction

• Can be due to molybdenum cofactor deficiency.
• Low dietary Mo leads to low urinary and serum uric acid concentrations and excessive xanthine excretion [Turnlund et al., 1995.]

Testing: Genova Labs Elemental Analysis [others?]

For more information

• Molybdenum, on the Linus Pauling Institute's Micronutrient Information Center