The Brain Reward Cascade and Salugen's Core Technology

Salugen's core technology focuses on the feelings to reward and pleasure.  Through both over the counter and prescription-only solutions, Salugen is able to deliver nutritional solutions proven in clinical studies to reduce excess cravings associated with the Top 3 Leading Causes of Preventable Death.*

Those nutritional solutions include:

• HAVEOS for substance abuse and narcotic tolerance
• GenoTrim for excess cravings contributing to weight problems
• SpaGen for skin and mental wellbeing

The interactions of separate subsystems of the brain diagramed below merge together into the much larger “brain reward” system. These activities take place simultaneously and in a specific sequence, merging like a cascade. This cascade begins with serotonin, involves dopamine, endorphins, GABA, and norepinephrine, and ultimately, results in satiation or a sense of peace and well-being when these systems work normally. If there is a deficiency or imbalance, the system will work abnormally, causing the sense of well-being to be displaced by feelings of anxiety, anger, or low self-esteem. This can lead to the craving for a substance that masks or relieves those bad feelings such as carbohydrate (sugar) bingeing or chronic overeating, alcoholism, or drug dependence, as well as other addictive or compulsive behaviors.

Figure: Brain Reward Cascade 

We have proposed a system called the brain–reward cascade (Blum and Kozlowski, 1990). As described below, the brain-reward cascade, when functioning normally, allows an individual the feelings of satisfaction and well-being by allowing for the release of Dopamine (DA) at the “reward site” of the brain.

In this cascade simulation, the serotonergic system in the hypothalamus leads to the stimulation of delta /mu receptors by serotonin to cause a release of enkephalins. Activation of the enkephalinergic system induces an inhibition of GABA transmission at the substania nigra by enkephalin stimulation of mu receptors at GABA neurons. This inhibitory effect allows for the fine tuning of GABA activity. This provides the normal release of dopamine at the projected area of the nucleus accumbens (reward site of the brain). Thus the release of DA induces a feeling of well-being, “reward” and “happiness”. Salugen’s core intellectual property around dopamine activation may be applicable in both pharmaceutical and nutraceutical intervention and may hold an important key to one of the most prevailing medical dilemmas – reward deficiency.

Salugen offers a patent-protected, clinically-proven, and all-natural anti-craving ingredient complex. It can be ingested in multiple forms as a pill, powder, sublingual dissolving tablet, chewable, as an ingredient in water or fruit juice, intravenously, in an intra-muscular injection, and in intra-rectal paste. It is a 3rd generation, all-natural dopamine neuronal-release promoter improving upon earlier iterations of the research such as SAAVE, PhenCal, and synaptamine. It contains certain targeted amino-acids, a Vitamin B complex, and certain herbs formulated and clinically studied to optimize brain reward chemistry. In its basic form, it is a dietary supplement. As part of a specific regimen at prescription strength, it is a medical food only available by physician prescription. The companion genetic test analyzes genes to better understand the chemical imbalance. The test begins with a sample collected via cheek swab, which is then analyzed for predispositions to addictive tendencies. Then, this information can be used to identify patients, support pre-authorization, and customize further treatments.*

Address excess cravings contributing to your weight challenges with GenoTrim™.

Whether you’ve spent a lifetime overweight or have gained weight in adulthood due to age, childbirth, or other concerns, your genes play a larger role in your body composition than you may realize. Now, with a simple DNA test, we can measure key genes that contribute to your body’s unique weight balance. Using that information, we create a Made For Me™ formulation of GenoTrim™ using independently tested ingredients to address your body’s specific roadblocks to optimal weight due to excess cravings.*

Improve skin health through stress reduction and mental wellbeing with SpaGen™.

Available only through leading spas starting in the Summer of 2006, SpaGen™ is a supplement specifically formulated to address your body’s overall mental wellness. By applying 6000 evidence-based rules to information collected from a health and wellness profile, as well as the results of your genetic test, we are able to create a one-of-a-kind supplement to promote overall tissue, organ, skeletal and systemic wellness. Truly, SpaGen is able to nourish the well within.*

Overcome cravings for addictive substances and tolerance to narcotic painkillers.

HAVEOS™ is the world’s first and only DNA-customized solution to naturally address reward deficiency disorders due to associated excessive cravings . By measuring specific genes that contribute to brain reward chemistry, we are able to determine some of the contributing factors to a someone's addictive tendecies and help support the attentuation of those substances with a DNA-customized blend of nutrients delivered across multiple routes of administration.*

Look forward to continued innovations from Salugen.

Salugen is committed to reinvesting a significant portion of our revenue back into research and development. Due to the success of our existing products, we have numerous projects in the development pipeline to address common issues.