Circulation--Nitric Oxide

On wine:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/106/13/1614
On Minoxidil
http://highbloodpressure.about.com/od/treatmentmonitoring/p/minoxidil.htm

Both of the above have worked for me. I wonder if nitric oxide is the underlying factor.

CS, curious about what your thought on this is.

Gibson - If wine has any role, it could be the Quercetin (it scavenges superoxide free radical), inhibits fructose absorption and a touch of resveratrol only enhances this. Often there are pro-nitric oxide substances that actually generate inflammation but the components in red wine are vasoprotective instead of vasoreactive. While they increase NO, they also increase SOD to prevent the negative oxidation of NO.

Minoxidil to believed to work by increasing potassium ATP channels.

If you are looking to increase Nitric Oxide I would have to recommend Low Level Laser Therapy. It has been shown in research articles to increase NO and SOD. Also it helps to increase ATP production.

There is a bunch of studies but here is a quick one.

Enhancement of nitric oxide release from nitrosyl hemoglobin and nitrosyl myoglobin by red/near infrared radiation: Potential role in cardioprotection.

Lohr NL, Keszler A, Pratt P, Bienengraber M, Warltier DC, Hogg N

Department of Anesthesiology, the Medical College of Wisconsin, MEB 4245, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53226, USA; Department of Internal Medicine, the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee WI, USA.

Nitric oxide is an important messenger in numerous biological processes, such as angiogenesis, hypoxic vasodilation, and cardioprotection. Although nitric oxide synthases (NOS) produce the bulk of NO, there is increasing interest in NOS independent generation of NO in vivo, particularly during hypoxia or anoxia, where low oxygen tensions limit NOS activity. Interventions that can increase NO bioavailability have significant therapeutic potential. The use of far red and near infrared light (R/NIR) can reduce infarct size, protect neurons from methanol toxicity, and stimulate angiogenesis. How R/NIR modulates these processes in vivo and in vitro is unknown, but it has been suggested that increases in NO levels are involved. In this study we examined if R/NIR light could facilitate the release of NO from nitrosyl heme proteins. In addition, we examined if R/NIR light could enhance the protective effects of nitrite on ischemia and reperfusion injury in the rabbit heart. We show both in purified systems and in myocardium that R/NIR light can decay nitrosyl hemes and release NO, and that this released NO may enhance the cardioprotective effects of nitrite. Thus, the photodissociation to NO and its synergistic effect with sodium nitrite may represent a noninvasive and site-specific means for increasing NO bioavailability.

J Mol Cell Cardiol 2009 Mar 25

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=19328206

I've read arginine does this. But it can be bad for you? IS there a certain does to avoid these effects and would reservratol help to even out the effects of arginine?

Swimmy - LLLT, Quercetin and others would be safer if increasing NO is the goal. Arginine can have negative consequences depending diet and some factor yet not fully understood. The primary concern with Arginine is iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase), which is inflammatory as opposed to eNOS (endothelial Nitric oxide synthase).

CS--
I've covered what you mention above--quercetin, etc--upon dropping wine and minox, which is why I started looking for an x factor: nitric oxide?

I was considering an arginine topical based on this article:

http://www.hairlosstalk.com/hair-loss-news/article195.php

Also, I have Butea Superbea on the way in capsule form which is reputed to increase nitric oxide.

Most important, I'm back on the quality sauce, which clearly helps.

Your additional thoughts on this, as always, are appreciated. (I will bypass the arginine internal.)

Gibson - I should mention that Arginine, in this case sustained release form either Arginine Pyroglutamate or AAKG (L-Arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate) is highly recommended for heart patients. The reason is that sustained forms of arginine can widen by vessels by 200% or more.

During the aging process, we often lose up to 60% of vessel diameter. This is especially true for the microvascular system or capillaries. While traditional medicine focuses on the larger arteries, diminished blood blow always begins in the microvascular before it hits the main arteries.

In this sense the use of Arginine makes a lot of sense. There was on study some years ago showing that "regular" arginine alone was about 2% effective for helping patients with "ED" a problem that often is exacerbated by a shortage of nitric oxide. However, when Pycnogenol was added with "regular" arginine, the success rate climbed to over 92%. I'm sure the results would have been even more impressive if a sustained arginine form was used.

Anyway, because NO is short a short-lived gaseous chemical (half-life is about 10 seconds), using various other substances, especially vasoprotective substances can go a long way toward preserving NO. Pomegranate juice from a quality vendor (such as POM Wonderful) is a good example. This simultaneously increases NO while keeping the effect sustained for a while and at the same time inhibits MMP-9. Too bad it's on the pricey side and supplements are even more expensive in which a lot of them need to be taken to get this effect.

Having used Arginine in various forms I have had mixed results. What is eaten hours before can effect its outcome (especially foods that break down into glucose). If Arginine is ever used, I think it is vital to use other substances along with it, such as anything that increases superoxide dismutase (to quench superoxide radical that breaks down NO).

Also depending on how NO is generated, the inflammatory form is vasoreactive or inflammatory and will cause noticeable scalp inflammation and raised skin.

Getting back to Pycnogenol that is a very powerful generator of NO and it has lots of advantages, but for myself any many others it curiously increases redness and inflammation on the skin and scalp in lesion form. I suspect it increases iNOS (inducible nitric oxide synthase).

Yet no everyone experiences negative effects from pycnogenol.

Lastly, Ecklonia Cava does increase NO while combating vasoreactive substances and at the same time improves blood flow significantly through a variety of mechanisms. Namely, inhibiting antiplasmin and ACE.