The newest muscle booster is called "HemodrauliX" utilizing PGE2 to
stimulate nitric oxide synthase while supplementing it with enough
substrate in the form of Arginine.  IMHO this formula should also work
for great erections ...

From the full text at http://www.myonet.com/p-AX12.htm :

"Nitric Oxide is a byproduct of Arginine being broken down in the body
by an enzyme called Nitric Oxide Synthase (NOS). Your body only has a
limited supply of NOS. Consequently, no matter how much Arginine you
have flooded your system with, your NO will only be as high as the
amount of NOS you have to break it down. We have a breakthrough way to
create more of the key enzyme, NOS. The result…RIDICULOUS PUMPS! We
are talking pumps so big, they almost hurt. Excited yet?

How in the heck to did you do this? You might ask. The answer is the
addition of a compound called Arachidonic Acid (AA). You may have seen
AA in other products because it has so many benefits. But you have
never seen it used this way before. AA has the ability to turn on
(upregulate) NOS through a complex process. Once AA is released from
the phospholipid layer of each muscle cell during exercise, it is
rapidly converted to prostaglandins (PGE2). PGE2 upregulates the
enzyme NOS creating the perfect environment for MASS Nitric Oxide
production."

"Arachidonic Acid
HemodrauliX is the first nitric oxide product ever to harness the
power of Arachidonic Acid (AA). The powerful combo of AA and NO work
together to ignite a cascading process that leads to pumps and
endurance never before experienced by the bodybuilding and athletic
world. Arachidonic Acid is the precursor to cell-signaling molecules
called prostaglandins (PGE2). In addition to being highly anabolic,
PGE2 works with Nitric Oxide to create massive vasodialation, feeding
the muscles by increasing blood flow, oxygen and assisting with
glucose uptake. You’ve heard supplement companies promise skin-
bursting pumps before. Now it’s time to actually experience them."

It seems to me that one way to suppress the production of the bad
destructive AA metabolites called leukotrienes is to involve in
resistance exercise.  Could it be the excessive carbohydrates
(particularly fructose) not burned for energy which stimulate the bad
guys like LTB4??

Taka

Just for a record - this is the original AA patent:

Use of arachidonic acid as a method of increasing skeletal muscle mass

United States Patent 6841573

This invention discloses a method of orally administering arachidonic
acid for the purpose of increasing the serum level of the
prostaglandin PGF2alpha and subsequently the level of retained
skeletal muscle mass.

A method for increasing muscle mass, which method comprises
administering orally to a human in need of such treatment an amount of
arachidonic acid between about 100 mg and 5,500 mg which is effective
in raising the level of the endogenous prostaglandin PGF2 alpha.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Maintaining a healthy level of muscle mass can play an important role
in sustaining overall good health, with benefits such as increased
basal metabolic rate, better disposal of dietary fats and maintenance
of lower body fat levels, increased immune system health, and an
increase in one's overall vitality and sense of well-being compared to
maintaining lower than ideal levels of lean body mass. A number of
pathological conditions exist that make it difficult to maintain a
normal healthy level of muscle mass, including HIV (human
immunodeficiency virus), andropause or hypogonadism (subnormal
androgen levels), infection, trauma, burns, and spinal cord injury.
Some individuals also fail to gain or to maintain normal lean body
mass without definite pathophysiologic reasons. Many treatments are
offered that would help an individual in need of such treatment
promote the buildup of muscle tissue.

Skeletal muscle mass is increased or maintained in the body through a
number of separate and distinct mechanisms. Such mechanisms play a
role in the regulation of either skeletal muscle protein synthesis or
breakdown, and collectively control the total amount of accrued
protein present in the muscle cell. The actions of androgens are among
the most visibly tied to the regulation of skeletal muscle mass, as
these hormones are collectively responsible for the development and
maintenance of male sexual characteristics including external
virilization, sexual maturity at puberty, spermatogenesis, sexual
behavior/libido and erectile functioning and the support of bone and
muscle tissue growth. It is well documented in the prior art that
raising the level of androgenic hormones in the body can increase
skeletal muscle mass. A number of methods have similarly been
developed to increase the level of androgenic hormones in the body,
which ultimately can be used to offer the benefits of increased
skeletal muscle mass in humans.

In searching for ways to increase androgen levels in the body, the use
of androgen precursor hormones have been suggested. U.S. Pat. No.
5,578,588 to Mattem et al. relates a method of using a precursor
hormone, namely androstenedione, as a means of increasing testosterone
levels. Although the in-vivo conversion of endogenous androstenedione
to testosterone had been documented and cited in this patent, the use
of this compound as an external supplement for producing a stable and
effective increase in serum testosterone had never been investigated
before, and therefore represents a novel invention. The
pharmacokinetics of administering such a precursor is such that
hormone concentrations of active hormone (testosterone) peak within 90
minutes, and subsequently decline over a period of three to four
hours. This more closely resembles the natural pulsating pattern in
which the body releases testosterone, and avoids the prolonged peaks
and troughs noted with use of esterified injectable hormone
preparations.

Several other methods of using different androgen precursor hormones
have also been disclosed, including U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,117 to Patrick
Arnold, which relates a method of using 4-androstenediol as a means of
increasing testosterone levels in humans. This in-vivo conversion of 4-
androstenediol to testosterone, again, was well documented in the
prior art and this patent, however the use of this compound as an
effective oral medicament for raising testosterone levels was never
investigated prior, and therefore represents another novel invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,391,868 to Arnold similarly relates a method of using
5-alpha-androst-1-en-3-one for increasing levels of the anabolic/
androgenic steroid 17-beta-hydroxy-5-alpha-androst-1-en-3-one in
humans. Again the in-vivo bioconversion was known, however a formal
investigation of its oral use to increase serum androgen levels had
never been disclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,436 to Llewellyn further
discloses the method of using 5-alpha-androstanedione or 5-alpha-
androstanediol to increase levels of dihydrotestosterone in humans, a
hormone which also offers the benefit of regulating protein synthesis
and increasing skeletal muscle mass.

The use of androgenic hormones in general, however, is often thought
to entail some risk, as increasing the level of such hormones may also
be relevant to the development of undesirable side effects such as
gynecomastia, water retention (edema), unfavorable alterations in
cholesterol levels (increased heart disease risk) and increased blood
pressure to name just a few. If an individual is seeking solely to
increase skeletal muscle mass, and is not in need of androgen
replacement, then the methods regarding the use of androgen precursors
may be less than ideal. It therefore became to focus of this inventor
to find another distinct mechanism in the body that plays an important
role in the regulation of protein synthesis, and can be affected
externally by the similar use of a precursor compound to an active
constituent in said mechanism to enhance the buildup of skeletal
muscle tissue.

This invention relates a method of administering arachidonic acid for
the purpose of increasing the level of the prostaglandin PGF2alpha and
subsequently skeletal muscle mass. PGF2alpha is not an androgenic
steroid, but an endogenous prostaglandin. It is referred to commonly
as an inflammatory hormone, and is related to several biological
functions including immunity, response to allergens, intestinal
mobility and blood flow in various regions of the body. PGF2alpha is
also closely tied to skeletal muscle protein synthesis in the body
(Biochem J 1983 Sep. 15;214(3):1011-4), and represents an important
new target for the external modulation of skeletal muscle mass
distinct from the mechanisms involving male sex steroids. This method
of using arachidonic acid for increasing PGF2alpha and skeletal muscle
mass is an ideal solution for an individual in need of such treatment,
because PGF2alpha is non-steroidal, and can increase protein synthesis
and muscle mass without the potential undesirable side effects
associated with altering sex steroid levels with androgen precursor
hormones.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Prior art relates several novel methods of using precursors to
hormones that regulate protein synthesis for the purpose of increasing
the levels of said hormones, which ultimately can increase skeletal
muscle mass. Although the suggested practice of using precursors to
physiologically active hormones seems quite sound, the target hormones
in the cited art, namely androgenic steroids, may be less than ideal
in many cases, particularly in those where increases in skeletal
muscle mass are desired but the potential side effects of androgens
contraindicates their use. The problem of the present invention is
therefore to provide a precursor to a target hormone that can also be
used to increase skeletal muscle mass when administered, but is
completely non-steroidal. According to the invention this problem is
solved by the oral use of arachidonic acid, a direct precursor to the
prostaglandin PGF2alpha. This method is ideal because it is natural,
non-toxic, quickly metabolized to active form after oral
administration, and can increase skeletal muscle mass without the
potential side effects of androgenic precursors.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Arachidonic acid is a naturally occurring polyunsaturated fat,
belonging to the Omega-6 family of fatty acids. It is considered an
essential fatty acid (EFA), because it is an essential nutrient that
your body can't produce itself. The only way you can get arachidonic
acid is through the food you eat. It is obtained in small amounts in
the average human diet, coming from various plant and animal sources
including milk. Arachidonic acid has furthermore been identified as a
vital precursor to numerous hormones in the body including
prostaglandins, prostacyclin (PGI12), leukotrienes, and thromboxanes.

Studies by have fundamentally proven the in-vitro conversion of
arachidonic acid to the prostaglandin PGF2alpha. Experiments by Berlin
et al. (Acta Physiol Scand 1979 August;106(4):441-5) used 14C-labeled
arachidonic acid to chart the metabolism of this essential fatty acid
into various prostaglandins in human skeletal muscle and kidney
homogenates. Those prostaglandins produced during this incubation
include PGD2, PGE2, PGF2 alpha and 6-keto-PGF1 alpha. Further studies
with labeled arachidonic acid have fundamentally proven the in-vivo
conversion of this fatty acid into PGF2alpha (Acta Physiol Scand 1979
July;106(3):307-12). In this investigation the labeled metabolites of
arachidonic acid were measured in serum extracted from the forearm and
kidney of human volunteers after direct infusion into the brachial or
renal artery. PGD2, PGE2, PGF2 alpha, 6-keto-PGF1 alpha and 13,14-
dihydro-15-keto-PGE2 (Me) were all found in this experiment.

The prostaglandin PGF2alpha has also been proven to play a vital role
in skeletal muscle protein synthesis. In fact, it is one of the
prostaglandins most closely tied to protein synthesis, and therefore
the primary focus of this invention. Studies conducted by Smith et al.
(Biochem J 1983 July 15;214(1):153-61) have fundamentally proven the
importance of PGF2alpha in stimulating protein synthesis in-vitro, by
testing the ...

read more »

In article
<fb063f63-9d9b-4c03-b801-6d914b609...@c65g2000hsa.googlegroups.com>,

FYI, FGF2a stimulates IL-6 [PMID 11968002] - so you could have a guy who
has muscle wasting because he has Crohn's disease and too much IL-6 and
I bet some joker somewhere will read this patent and then try giving the
guy arachidonic acid.

Doh!

(You're also going to stimulate the development of colon cancer this
way.)

In article
<43483d42-119f-4560-b91d-8eecacd4e...@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,

Looking strictly at the pathways, you could also get this effect taking
estrogen - it's an eNOS stimulant - but somehow, I don't think any of
these guys are going to try it.  There's also citrulline, folic acid/BH4
and straight superoxide dismutase.  Many of them have some real risks to
them (BH4 and Parkinson's, for instance).  Frankly, fiddling along this
pathway for a little extra muscle is just plane stupid

On Jul 20, 3:22 am, Kofi <k...@anon.un.org> wrote:

It seems to me that the serious bodybuilders could be well depleting
AA in the muscle cells quite efficiently by the strenuous training -
see my previous post entitled "Spaceflight muscle wasting" which shows
how any muscle use produces prostaglandins which are not going to turn
back into AA afterwards.  When you reach a plateau in the muscle
growth you don't usually get the usual DOMS (delayed muscle pain/
soreness) anymore.  Because DOMS are caused by the very AA metabolites
like PGF2a, PGE2 this may signal that there is not enough AA precursor
probably because not enough delta-5 desaturase is hanging around for
the great demand during intense trainings.  So I suspect that in the
trained individuals any supplementary AA would be quickly soaked into
the muscle fibers without causing any systemic inflammatory problems.
Of course on the other hand it can cause a lot of damage to a
sedentary folk on an Omega-6 rich diet whose muscles are already
overloaded with AA to begin with.

Taka

Another related thought is that when the top athletes quit the
training they often start feeling bad due to different inflammatory
problems such as aching joints because their desaturase system has
been conditioned for the high AA demand during intense muscle work and
they start getting excess of it in the absence of the exercise.  Same
as the SNPs overactivating the delta-5 desaturase linked to vascular
diseases.

Taka

That's in peanuts, right?

tom

--
And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

On Jul 22, 8:25 pm, Tom Anderson <t...@urchin.earth.li> wrote:

No, only its precursor linoleic acid.  It is in relatively high
amounts in organ meat such as hearts and egg yolks.  Also in recently
mentioned farmed salmon fed grains.

Taka

In article <Pine.LNX.4.64.0807221224040.11...@urchin.earth.li>,
 Tom Anderson <t...@urchin.earth.li> wrote:

Be careful with that.  I recall some information on some other compound
in peanuts causing infertility in men.

Don't ask me for a cite. This is a memory dredged up from many moons
ago...
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

Huh. And there was me thinking it was that planet out of those Dune books.

Actually, i kind of assumed because of the name that it really would be in
peanuts. After all, why would it get called arachidonic acid if it's not
found in _