The growth hormone (GH) secretion declines as we age (by 14% per decade), the process called somatopause. Drugs like pyridostigmine (an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor) are able to enhance GH secretion, but its clinical use is limited due to the strong side effects. Rivastigmine, a drug for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), was found to enhance GH release (Gerontology. 2003;49:191–195).
Oral administration of certain amino acids (arginine, glutamine, glycine, and lysine) increased the release of endogenous GH (Nutrition. 2002;18:657–661); the doses of arginine were 0.5 or 1 g/kg body weight increased GH level (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2011 ; Vol. 43 (3): 582-586) or roughly 35 to 70 g a day.
Arginine dissolved in distilled water was infused over a thirty-minute period in doses 1/12, 1/6 and 1/4 g. per pound of body weight. Only the highest dose (average 37.5 g total) was found to be effective in this administration mode. Interestingly, the responses of GH among females remain significantly higher than those among males (N Engl J Med 1967; 276:434-439).
The mixture of L-arginine, L-glutamine, L-lysine, and glycine at a ratio of 37:30:18.5:14.5) added as 5% of the daily meals total has been found to increase the release of endogenous GH. When mice were fed a diet containing GH-releasing supplements they had significantly fewer memory impairments and changes in acetylcholine level in hippocampus induced by Alzheimer’s amyloid beta 1–42 (J Pharmacol Sci; 2005, 99, 117 – 120).
Recently, a clinical target for improving the conditions of AD may be the activation not of GH alone but the entire GH/insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) brain axis. IGF-I alone is also considered a physiological regulator of brain amyloid levels with therapeutic potential (Nature Medicine, 2002; 8, 1390 – 1397)
The growth hormone (GH) secretion declines as we age (by 14% per decade), the process called somatopause. Drugs like pyridostigmine (an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor) are able to enhance GH secretion, but its clinical use is limited due to the strong side effects. Rivastigmine, a drug for Alzheimer’s disease (AD), was found to enhance GH release (Gerontology. 2003;49:191–195).
Oral administration of certain amino acids (arginine, glutamine, glycine, and lysine) increased the release of endogenous GH (Nutrition. 2002;18:657–661); the doses of arginine were 0.5 or 1 g/kg body weight increased GH level (J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2011 ; Vol. 43 (3): 582-586) or roughly 35 to 70 g a day.
Arginine dissolved in distilled water was infused over a thirty-minute period in doses 1/12, 1/6 and 1/4 g. per pound of body weight. Only the highest dose (average 37.5 g total) was found to be effective in this administration mode. Interestingly, the responses of GH among females remain significantly higher than those among males (N Engl J Med 1967; 276:434-439).
The mixture of L-arginine, L-glutamine, L-lysine, and glycine at a ratio of 37:30:18.5:14.5) added as 5% of the daily meals total has been found to increase the release of endogenous GH. When mice were fed a diet containing GH-releasing supplements they had significantly fewer memory impairments and changes in acetylcholine level in hippocampus induced by Alzheimer’s amyloid beta 1–42 (J Pharmacol Sci; 2005, 99, 117 – 120).
Recently, a clinical target for improving the conditions of AD may be the activation not of GH alone but the entire GH/insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) brain axis. IGF-I alone is also considered a physiological regulator of brain amyloid levels with therapeutic potential (Nature Medicine, 2002; 8, 1390 – 1397)
