Nitric Oxide

[Guest guest]

Dear Duncan,

" A theory has been put forward by Pall, PhD, of Washington State

University in Pullman, WA.

The formation of nitric oxide is triggered by pro-inflammatory cytokines,

the same substances that activate the anti-viral pathway. Nitric oxide goes

on to form peroxynitrite. This substance is a potent oxidant, more so than

nitric oxide. It damages cell membranes, interrupts energy production in the

mitochondria, reduces the ability of of blood platelets to store

pain-relieving serotonin for delivery to the tissues, and produces a

situation that causes an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines. According

to Pall, once the process is set in motion, it becomes a vicious circle.

" Pall recently published a study that adds weight to this theory. Since

nitric oxide is not a compound that can be easily measured, Pall tested the

levels of citrulline, a stable compound that is formed by the production of

nitric oxide (for every nitric oxide molecule that is formed, a molecule of

citrulline is formed as well). Pall tested the serum citrulline levels in 36

CFS patients and 16 healthy controls. He found that the levels of citrulline

were significantly higher in the CFS patients. In addition, he noted a trend

between higher cirulline levels in the serum and greater symptom severity in

the CFS patients.

" Pall is not the only person to investigate an elevation in citrulline

levels. Alice Larson, PhD, of the University of Minnesota in St. ,

tested the spinal fluid of fibromyalgia patients for various amino acids,

including citrulline. She found elevated citrulline levels in the spinal

fluid and noted they correlated with pain levels. Larson concluded that

nitric oxide could be implicated in fibromyalgia, and emphasized its role in

pain processing -- particularly its ability to activate the NMDA receptors

in the spinal cord which are known to cause pain amplification.

" An aditional study that found evidence of elevated levels of nitric oxide

in the blood serum of patients with fibromyalgia was performed by Lawrence

Bradley, PhD, and coworkers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Rather than test for citrulline, Bradley measured the chemical breakdown

product of nitric oxide plus peroxynitrite, called nitrite. He found that

elevated nitrite levels correlated with the patient's response to two

different pain stimulus tests.

" Dr. Suhaidolnik summed up by saying " We begin to see an explanation of some

of these activities in terms of nitric oxide and peroxynitrite. What we have

is a reinforcement, in a vicious circle. The more inflammatory cytokines we

have, the more nitric oxide and peroxynitrite we get, along with more

mitochondrial damage, lipid peroxidation damage, and a down-regulation of

the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. A reduced cortisol output

from the adrenals could explain the weakened immune system and some of the

fatigue patients experience. "

- Proceedings of the January 2003 American Association for Chronic Fatigue

Syndrome (AACFS) meeting in Washington, DC.

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----Original Message Follows----

Reply-To: oxyplus

To: oxyplus

Subject: Re: Re: asthma (nitric oxide)

Date: Tue, 20 May 2003 07:36:42 -0700

The FDA estimates that about 15 million people in the U.S., including

almost five million children, suffer from asthma and that the condition

causes roughly two million emergency room visits, about 500,000

hospitalizations, and 4,500 deaths in the U.S. each year. Don't you hate

all those unnecessary hospital trips, not to mention the deaths?

I've written extensively on antioxidant therapy for both COPD and asthma

especially with glutathione precursors included, so I needn't go there

again.

Here's another approach, this one aimed at opening the airways with a

natural product...

One of the most dramatic responses we are seeing with NitrO is from

people with respiratory difficulties.

NitrO is a new product that increases nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is well-

studied; in fact the 1998 Nobel prize was awarded to researchers who

determined what all it does. It is involved in a surprisingly large

number of functions and increasing it can produce awesome health

benefits. Complete details are now available on my site, including

pleanty of data to appeal to the technically-oriented:

http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/

_________________________________________________________________

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[Guest guest]

Hi Saul;

I appreciate the caution and I'm saving the passage. Too much of a good

thing, even nitric oxide, a necessary molecule, can be injurious under

certain conditions.

The warning is less about nitric oxide than about peroxynitrite, which is

formed if nitric oxide reacts with another free radical, superoxide. OK,

but we have antioxidants to handle the excess nitric oxide (flavonoids,

vitamin C) and the superoxide (superoxide dismutase), just as we have

antioxidants to handle other free radicals and even the large numbers of

them produced by bio-oxidative therapies. Similarly, pycnogenol controls

both peroxynitrite and nitric oxide. So we can control the therapy.

The free radical concern will not deter people who would take Viagra for

sex, for example, and I know people who are taking low-dose Viagra daily

at $15 a pill with a doctor's prescription, for the nitric oxide

production effect that eases their angina pain by increasing vascular

carrying capacity for example.

Bottom line is that if we don't overdo it, most of us can realize about

30 positive health effects that the right amount of nitric oxide can

produce, and perhaps the CFS patients can use it too provided they can

attend to their antioxidant levels, which they might be doing anyway if

they did their reading and knew that CFS already has a high degree of

oxidative stress.

Duncan Crow

>

> " Dr. Suhaidolnik summed up by saying " We begin to see an explanation of

> some of these activities in terms of nitric oxide and peroxynitrite. What

> we have is a reinforcement, in a vicious circle. The more inflammatory

> cytokines we have, the more nitric oxide and peroxynitrite we get, along

> with more mitochondrial damage, lipid peroxidation damage, and a

> down-regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. A

> reduced cortisol output from the adrenals could explain the weakened

> immune system and some of the fatigue patients experience. "

>

> - Proceedings of the January 2003 American Association for Chronic Fatigue

> Syndrome (AACFS) meeting in Washington, DC.

[Guest guest]

Hello All,

I'm new to the group, and have very severe asthma that started after

I was exposed to methyl bromide 12 years ago. Before that, I had no

respiratory history whatsoever.

I had planned to try and increase my nitric oxide level with arginine

alphaketoglatarate as part of my asthma treatment. But then when I

read articles talking about NO increasing pro-imflammatory cytokines,

increasing NO doesn't seem to make any sense. Asthmatics have low NO

in general, but how can increasing it help if it increases

imflammation? Am I missing somtething here?

Thx...mike

[Guest guest]

Hi ;

The data says there's more than one form of NO, overall one achieves positive

effect. Nitric oxide is a selective pulmonary vasodilator and one of the

" epithelium-derived bronchoprotective factors "

http://www.lumc.nl/1070/research/Algemeen/pdf/674.pdf

For example, this study titled: " Allergen-induced impairment of

bronchoprotective nitric oxide synthesis in asthma " goes into detail and

answers that exact question

I don't have first-hand experience with this, but I'm told by a nutritionist

friend that he's seeing particularly good effects on asthma by using a nitric

oxide increaser. That's one of the things that really got me interested in the

concentrated Noni product NitrO.

In my practice I've seen asthma and COPD reduced to nothing with a

comprehensive antioxidant program including the glutathione precursors cold-

processed whey isolate plus selenium. The antioxidants, particularly the

glutathione, have to be on-site in the lungs to quench irritation and

oxidation, which in turn will reduce both inflammation and mucus. In addition,

the glutathione will break down a wide variety of irritating toxins. The lungs

are the third major users of glutathione in the body. You'll see what I mean by

looking up oxidative stress headings with regard to the lungs. Here's a start:

http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/medline_links.html

I'd advise that in a lot of people, asthma is seriously aggravated also by

toxins created by incorrect bowel fluorish, so correcting bowel flora and doing

a series of liver flushes to enable the liver to properly function to dispose

of the toxin load should considerably reduce severity too. And correcting bowel

fluorish with Inulin and liver flushes is cheap.

Duncan Crow

http://members.shaw.ca/duncancrow/

>

> I'm new to the group, and have very severe asthma that started after

> I was exposed to methyl bromide 12 years ago. Before that, I had no

> respiratory history whatsoever.

>

> I had planned to try and increase my nitric oxide level with arginine

> alphaketoglatarate as part of my asthma treatment. But then when I

> read articles talking about NO increasing pro-imflammatory cytokines,

> increasing NO doesn't seem to make any sense. Asthmatics have low NO

> in general, but how can increasing it help if it increases

> imflammation? Am I missing somtething here?

>

> Thx...mike

[Guest guest]

Let me first say that I am very skeptical about the supplement industry. I could

go into a rant but leave it for another time. That being said I have found a

product that works very well and does produce a great deal of energy(which I

need as a single dad) and a noticeable difference in the muscle " pump " . It is

one of the NO supplements called NO Shotgun by VPX. I have no affiliation with

the company and if anyone here has some thoughts about this product or the

company itself I would love to hear it. Thanks

Bill

West Chester, Pa

========================

deadliftdiva@... wrote:

If the moderators might at this time grab Dr. Ralph's well written posting on

the NO supplements, this might prove helpful. Medically speaking, the

supplements in question seem to do no good! Save your money, spend it on good

food.....

The Phantom

aka Schaefer, CMT, CSCS, competing powerlifter

Denver, Colorado, USA

-------------- Original message --------------

Hi ,

Mixing such a product and then refrigerate it is not a good idea since

creatine is not very stable in water solution.

If you have a training session scheduled...stick with it and mix your NO

supplement 30-40 min before training.

At the moment there is no great scientific evidence on the effectiveness

of NO products but if you do not take them properly you will not obtain

any potential benefit.

Regards,

Luca Cardilli,

Oxford, UK

I would like to ask members if mixing a nitric oxide/creatine monohydrate

> formula with water and letting it sit for twenty-four hours or so would

> cause any of the components to degrade. I'm trying out a product called

> Trac Extreme-NO, made by Gerard Dente's company, MHP. Sometimes I'll mix

> the drink and then for some reason find myself unable to go to the gym

> that day - can I just put the solution away in the refrigerator and take

> it before the following day's training session?

>

> Pérez

> Reynosa, Mexico

>

>

>