Inhaling Buffered L-arginine

[Guest guest]

Thought this was intersting

O'Neill mum to Liam who has finally put on some weight!!

Inhaling Buffered L-arginine

While attending Brigham Young University in October, 1995 I found quite

by accident an article in the February, 1971 issue of Pediatrics by Dr.

Clive Solomons detailing a small scale study he had done using inhaled

l-arginine in patients with cystic fibrosis. The article is: Solomons,

Clive C., PhD, et al. " The Use of Buffered L-Arginine in the Treatment

of Cystic Fibrosis. " _Pediatrics_ Vol. 47, no. 2. (Feb., 1971). Pages

384-391.

I began inhaling l-arginine at the end of March, 1996. I had an

appointment at the CF clinic five days later, and my FVC was up about

10% and my FEV1 up slightly less. The most pronounced effect was much

better oxygen saturation: 98% at room air, despite FVC of 49% and FEV1

of about 32%. After five weeks of inhaling l-arginine, my FVC had

increased 28% to 63% and my FEV1 had increased 16% to 41%. For the

previous 18 months, my FVC had been under 50% and my FEV1 under 30%. For

the previous six months my FVC had been under 35%, my FEV1 under 25%. My

small airway capacity had increased from 5% to 14%.

At the time I began inhaling l-arginine, I was on oxygen, was short of

breath from walking at a normal pace any distance, had dropped out of

school, was being evaluated for a lung transplant, and was unable to

work. Within a couple of weeks, I was reenrolled in school, working

eight hours a day on my feet and lifting, and no longer eligible for a

lung transplant. I had much better exercise tolerance and increased lung

functions gave me a better appetite, and made it much easier for me to

do my secretion clearance treatments.

To make the solution, I dissolved 0.9g of l-arginine free-base and 15g

of l-arginine hydrochloride in 300ml of purified water. (Solomons used

tap water.) This mixture should have a pH of 7.4-7.6 and should be

refrigerated. In Solomon's study, it was inhaled four times a day for

thirty minutes (I don't do it quite as much or in such even doses).

100g of l-arginine hydrochloride lasts me eight to twelve weeks, and

100g of l-arginine free base should last over two to three years. The

chemicals can be purchased from Advanced Scientific, in Florida, at

. It costs $95 for 100g bottles of both, plus shipping.

1000g of l-arginine hydrochloride (enough for 2 years) costs only two or

three times more than 100g. The chemicals also be obtained from Sigma

Chemical. They supplied the chemicals for Dr. Solomon's study. Their

phone number or . However, they will not

sell to individuals, but will sell to institutions, medical researchers

and laboratory supply companies. They also charged much less (as I

remember). You may be able to order it from Sigma by asking a chemical

supply shop to special-order it from them for you.

Sigma Chemical, which is still in business carried L-arginine

hydrochloride (at least, that's what they said on the phone) while I

could only get arginine hydrochloride (no " L " ) from Advance Scientific.

I don't know how important this difference is, though I do know that

left-polarized amino-acids are more biologically efficient, though I

don't know if this applies to it's mucolytic action (and, even when

undifferentiated, I would imagine much of what I use is left-polarized,

too).

It may not be wise to use the l-arginine found health food stores since

it is almost always l-arginine free base (which is very caustic) derived

from l-arginine hydrochloride.

16-24 hours after I began inhaling it I became extremely congested, more

congested than when I'm sick, and was coughing up the most vile looking,

foulest smelling mucous. Even when I've been sick, it doesn't look that

gross! And " coughing up " is an overstatement: mostly, it just slid out

of it's own accord. This continued for a couple of days. My breath

smelled REALLY bad, too, but this also went away.

After inhaling it for a long time, I am sometimes short of breath for

15-30 minutes afterward, but have found that adding 0.5cc of Ventolin

alleviates this(though I rarely do it).

The article says that L-arginine has a detergent effect and loosens

mucous because of it's calcium and metal-ion binding effects and by

reducing fibril aggregation. The article also reported that staph.

aureus and hemophilus disappeared from the cultures of those who inhaled

l-arginine, although it did not affect the presence of pseudomonas. The

authors expected that this treatment would work best as a preventative

measure in patients who had not suffered much lung damage. Despite this,

the patients who used it averaged a 10% increase in lung functions, as

the l-arginine liquefied mucous plugs, although their lung functions

stopped increasing after about three weeks. The most pronounced effect

was increased arterial Po2.

The article also suggests oral use of L-arginine, but their suggested

dose was 1g/kg/day, up to 25g, which is a lot of L-arginine. Oral use

resulted in weight gain, better fat absorption, and 100% success in

relieving ALL intestinal cramping. Since this study was done, drugs

treating absorption problems in CF have become more effective and

prevalent. The study also noted that, to achieve it's preventative

effects, it might be sufficient to take l-arginine orally, as a small

amount ends up in the bronchial fluids.

Most CF doctor's haven't had a problem with using l-arginine (although

most didn't think it would help much, either). L-arginine has no

side-effects, as was confirmed in a letter to Pediatrics (I can't

remember the date) by Dr. Solomons two or three years after he published

his study.

What happened to L-arginine? Apparently this treatment was studied at

the time but " lost " in the excitement over a related drug with similar

effects, N-acetylcysteine (Mucomyst). (Which, incidently, has serious

side-effects and is now rarely used in CF.)

A Dr. reading the Cystic-L mailing list found an article in Pediatrics

1975, vol. 55, p. 96 by an East German group which compared l-arginine

with Nacetyl cysteine and found it inferior. They did not recommend it's

use. Solomons wrote a rebuttal in Pediatrics, 1976, vol. 76, p. 166

where he criticized the methodology of the East German study, arguing

that the researchers should have dissolved the l-arginine in water,

instead of sodium hydroxide, and that this could actually cause lung

inflammation and that arginine needed to buffered by its own salt. The

doctor who dug up this information concludes, " Since then I can find no

reports either in the mainstream literature or main CF conference

meetings. "

Before trying this treatment, I would urge you to get a copy of the

original article. Any library should have it, or your doctor can get it

for you. Also, in light of the above information, l-arginine should

probably not be mixed with saline (which is what my own CF doctor did

when he researched it himself -- which produced marginal results). Be

careful to be sure to mix it in the proper proportions, as inhaling it

at the wrong pH could pose a problem. If you don't have access to a

scale, pocket-sized scales that can measure to 0.1g can be purchased for

around $100 from scale or laboratory supply shops.

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

don't know where you ran about this article. Sorry, but it's stone-

old. Young, who wrote this story died in 1997 and I haven't

heard much about the use of l-arginine after that. It might be an

interesting substance, but we discussed the pros and cons several

years ago and decided that GSH is the better way to go. I am eagerly

looking forward to the results of the GSH study.

Peace

Torsten

> Thought this was intersting

> O'Neill mum to Liam who has finally put on some weight!!

>

> Inhaling Buffered L-arginine

>

> While attending Brigham Young University in October, 1995 I

found quite

> by accident an article in the February, 1971 issue of

Pediatrics by Dr.

> Clive Solomons detailing a small scale study he had done using

inhaled

> l-arginine in patients with cystic fibrosis. The article is:

Solomons,

> Clive C., PhD, et al. " The Use of Buffered L-Arginine in the

Treatment

> of Cystic Fibrosis. " _Pediatrics_ Vol. 47, no. 2. (Feb.,

1971). Pages

> 384-391.

>

> I began inhaling l-arginine at the end of March, 1996. I had an

> appointment at the CF clinic five days later, and my FVC was

up about

> 10% and my FEV1 up slightly less. The most pronounced effect

was much

> better oxygen saturation: 98% at room air, despite FVC of 49%

and FEV1

> of about 32%. After five weeks of inhaling l-arginine, my FVC

had

> increased 28% to 63% and my FEV1 had increased 16% to 41%. For

the

> previous 18 months, my FVC had been under 50% and my FEV1

under 30%. For

> the previous six months my FVC had been under 35%, my FEV1

under 25%. My

> small airway capacity had increased from 5% to 14%.

>

> At the time I began inhaling l-arginine, I was on oxygen, was

short of

> breath from walking at a normal pace any distance, had dropped

out of

> school, was being evaluated for a lung transplant, and was

unable to

> work. Within a couple of weeks, I was reenrolled in school,

working

> eight hours a day on my feet and lifting, and no longer

eligible for a

> lung transplant. I had much better exercise tolerance and

increased lung

> functions gave me a better appetite, and made it much easier

for me to

> do my secretion clearance treatments.

>

> To make the solution, I dissolved 0.9g of l-arginine free-base

and 15g

> of l-arginine hydrochloride in 300ml of purified water.

(Solomons used

> tap water.) This mixture should have a pH of 7.4-7.6 and

should be

> refrigerated. In Solomon's study, it was inhaled four times a

day for

> thirty minutes (I don't do it quite as much or in such even

doses).

>

> 100g of l-arginine hydrochloride lasts me eight to twelve

weeks, and

> 100g of l-arginine free base should last over two to three

years. The

> chemicals can be purchased from Advanced Scientific, in

Florida, at

> . It costs $95 for 100g bottles of both, plus

shipping.

> 1000g of l-arginine hydrochloride (enough for 2 years) costs

only two or

> three times more than 100g. The chemicals also be obtained

from Sigma

> Chemical. They supplied the chemicals for Dr. Solomon's study.

Their

> phone number or . However, they

will not

> sell to individuals, but will sell to institutions, medical

researchers

> and laboratory supply companies. They also charged much less

(as I

> remember). You may be able to order it from Sigma by asking a

chemical

> supply shop to special-order it from them for you.

>

> Sigma Chemical, which is still in business carried L-arginine

> hydrochloride (at least, that's what they said on the phone)

while I

> could only get arginine hydrochloride (no " L " ) from Advance

Scientific.

> I don't know how important this difference is, though I do

know that

> left-polarized amino-acids are more biologically efficient,

though I

> don't know if this applies to it's mucolytic action (and, even

when

> undifferentiated, I would imagine much of what I use is left-

polarized,

> too).

>

> It may not be wise to use the l-arginine found health food

stores since

> it is almost always l-arginine free base (which is very

caustic) derived

> from l-arginine hydrochloride.

>

> 16-24 hours after I began inhaling it I became extremely

congested, more

> congested than when I'm sick, and was coughing up the most

vile looking,

> foulest smelling mucous. Even when I've been sick, it doesn't

look that

> gross! And " coughing up " is an overstatement: mostly, it just

slid out

> of it's own accord. This continued for a couple of days. My

breath

> smelled REALLY bad, too, but this also went away.

>

> After inhaling it for a long time, I am sometimes short of

breath for

> 15-30 minutes afterward, but have found that adding 0.5cc of

Ventolin

> alleviates this(though I rarely do it).

>

> The article says that L-arginine has a detergent effect and

loosens

> mucous because of it's calcium and metal-ion binding effects

and by

> reducing fibril aggregation. The article also reported that

staph.

> aureus and hemophilus disappeared from the cultures of those

who inhaled

> l-arginine, although it did not affect the presence of

pseudomonas. The

> authors expected that this treatment would work best as a

preventative

> measure in patients who had not suffered much lung damage.

Despite this,

> the patients who used it averaged a 10% increase in lung

functions, as

> the l-arginine liquefied mucous plugs, although their lung

functions

> stopped increasing after about three weeks. The most

pronounced effect

> was increased arterial Po2.

>

> The article also suggests oral use of L-arginine, but their

suggested

> dose was 1g/kg/day, up to 25g, which is a lot of L-arginine.

Oral use

> resulted in weight gain, better fat absorption, and 100%

success in

> relieving ALL intestinal cramping. Since this study was done,

drugs

> treating absorption problems in CF have become more effective

and

> prevalent. The study also noted that, to achieve it's

preventative

> effects, it might be sufficient to take l-arginine orally, as

a small

> amount ends up in the bronchial fluids.

>

> Most CF doctor's haven't had a problem with using l-arginine

(although

> most didn't think it would help much, either). L-arginine has

no

> side-effects, as was confirmed in a letter to Pediatrics (I

can't

> remember the date) by Dr. Solomons two or three years after he

published

> his study.

>

> What happened to L-arginine? Apparently this treatment was

studied at

> the time but " lost " in the excitement over a related drug with

similar

> effects, N-acetylcysteine (Mucomyst). (Which, incidently, has

serious

> side-effects and is now rarely used in CF.)

>

> A Dr. reading the Cystic-L mailing list found an article in

Pediatrics

> 1975, vol. 55, p. 96 by an East German group which compared l-

arginine

> with Nacetyl cysteine and found it inferior. They did not

recommend it's

> use. Solomons wrote a rebuttal in Pediatrics, 1976, vol. 76,

p. 166

> where he criticized the methodology of the East German study,

arguing

> that the researchers should have dissolved the l-arginine in

water,

> instead of sodium hydroxide, and that this could actually

cause lung

> inflammation and that arginine needed to buffered by its own

salt. The

> doctor who dug up this information concludes, " Since then I

can find no

> reports either in the mainstream literature or main CF

conference

> meetings. "

>

> Before trying this treatment, I would urge you to get a copy

of the

> original article. Any library should have it, or your doctor

can get it

> for you. Also, in light of the above information, l-arginine

should

> probably not be mixed with saline (which is what my own CF

doctor did

> when he researched it himself -- which produced marginal

results). Be

> careful to be sure to mix it in the proper proportions, as

inhaling it

> at the wrong pH could pose a problem. If you don't have access

to a

> scale, pocket-sized scales that can measure to 0.1g can be

purchased for

> around $100 from scale or laboratory supply shops.

>

>