Parathyroid Hormone And Parathyroid Hormone-Related Protein May Lead To Non-Invasive Epiphyseal Growth Plate Regeneration (Big Breakthrough)

This is one of those posts which I am not sure if I am interpreting the results correctly but if I am, I would say that it may lead to an entire area of research that we can go into and really have a good chance at causing epiphyseal growth plate regeneration in a minimal invasive approach.

Recently I came across a PubMed study which has made me question whether the entire growth plate physiology we have been learning may be missing a critical piece. That piece was that the distinct layers of the growth plate where the individual chondrocytes wll move through in its life cycle don’t just move in one direction, but can go also in reverse. The study is entitled “Parathyroid hormone [PTH(1-34)] and parathyroid hormone-related protein [PTHrP(1-34)] promote reversion of hypertrophic chondrocytes to a prehypertrophic proliferating phenotype and prevent terminal differentiation of osteoblast-like cells.”

The abstract is below…

J Bone Miner Res. 1999 Aug;14(8):1281-9.

Parathyroid hormone [PTH(1-34)] and parathyroid hormone-related protein [PTHrP(1-34)] promote reversion of hypertrophic chondrocytes to a prehypertrophic proliferating phenotype and prevent terminal differentiation of osteoblast-like cells.

Zerega B, Cermelli S, Bianco P, Cancedda R, Cancedda FD.

Source

Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Centro di Biotecnologie Avanzate, Genova, Italy.

Abstract

The effects of parathyroid hormone/parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTH/PTHrP) on late events in chondrocyte differentiation were investigated by a dual in vitro model where conditions of suspension versus adhesion culturing are permissive either for apoptosis or for the further differentiation of hypertrophic chondrocytes to osteoblast- like cells. Chick embryo hypertrophic chondrocytes maintained in suspension synthesized type II and type X collagen and organized their extracellular matrix, forming a tissue highly reminiscent of true cartilage, which eventually mineralized. The formation of mineralized cartilage was associated with the expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), arrest of cell growth, and apoptosis, as observed in growth plates in vivo. In this system, PTH/PTHrP was found to repress type X collagen synthesis, ALP expression, and cartilage matrix mineralization. Cell proliferation was resumed, whereas apoptosis was blocked. Hypertrophic chondrocytes cultured in adherent conditions in the presence of retinoic acid underwent further differentiation to osteoblast-like cells (i.e., they resumed cell proliferation, switched to type I collagen synthesis, and produced a mineralizing bone-like matrix). In this system, PTH addition to culture completely inhibited the expression of ALP and matrix mineralization, whereas cell proliferation and expression of type I collagen were not affected. These data indicate that PTH/PTHrP inhibit both the mineralization of a cartilage-like matrix and apoptosis (mimicked in the suspension culture) and the production of a mineralizing bone-like matrix, characterizing further differentiation of hypertrophic chondrocytes to osteoblasts like cells (mimicked in adhesion culture). Treatment of chondrocyte cultures with PTH/PTHrP reverts cultured cells in states of differentiation earlier than hypertrophic chondrocytes (suspension), or earlier than mineralizing osteoblast-like cells (adhesion). However, withdrawal of hormonal stimulation redirects cells toward their distinct, microenvironment-dependent, terminal differentiation and fate.

PMID: 10457260   [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Analysis: While the study was done on chickens, I personally believe that the same PTH/PTHrP feedback loop is also seen in humans. It says very clearly that the PTH/PTHrP hormonal balance managed to inhibit the formation of compounds only the hypertrophic chondrocytes release, which are the Collagen Type X, the ALP, and mineralization. It says very clearly…”PTH/PTHrP was found to repress type X collagen synthesis, ALP expression, and cartilage matrix mineralization. Cell proliferation was resumed, whereas apoptosis was blocked.”

If we remember from studies we looked at in the past, specifically “BMP and Ihh/PTHrP signaling interact to coordinate chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation.” The two main points were…

  1. During endochondral ossification, two secreted signals, Indian hedgehog (Ihh) and parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP), have been shown to form a negative feedback loop regulating the onset of hypertrophic differentiation of chondrocytes
  2. Overexpression of Ihh in the cartilage elements of transgenic mice results in an upregulation of PTHrP expression and a delayed onset of hypertrophic differentiation.

Screen Shot 2013-01-01 at 10.37.27 PMNow, let’s look at this other study entitled “The PTHrP–Ihh feedback loop in the embryonic growth plate allows PTHrP to control hypertrophy and Ihh to regulate proliferation”

The abstract is below…

Growth plate and long bone development is governed by biochemical signaling pathways of which the PTHrP–Ihh system is the best known. Other factors, such as BMPs, FGFs and mechanical loading, may interact with this system. This study aims at elucidating the relative importance of PTHrP and Ihh for controlling proliferation, and hypertrophy in fetal growth plate cartilage. We assessed the question why reduced Ihh expression leads to more pronounced effects on the number of non-hypertrophic cells and total bone formation, compared to PTHrP down-regulation. Using few basic equations, constituted from literature data, this paper shows how the PTHrP–Ihh feedback system can control different aspects of tissue differentiation at distinct locations. In particular, it is shown that (mechanical or biochemical) perturbations will affect proliferation via Ihh-related parameters, whereas changes in PTHrP-related parameters selectively interact with hypertrophy. This is contra-intuitive, since PTHrP acts to keep cells proliferating. In this context, the critical PTHrP level for keeping cells proliferating has been reconsidered. In addition, an explanation is provided for the aforementioned difference in effect between reduced Ihh and PTHrP expression.

Screen Shot 2013-01-01 at 10.49.48 PMAnalysis: From just the abstract and the clipping, it would suggest that the PTHrP is the main component that is known today which determines how much the chondrocytes in the pre-hypertrophic layer and the proliferative layer can replicate. However, after I read further into the dicussion part of the study, it seems that the authors are suggesting that while the PTHrP and the iHH are in a feedback loop where they affect each other, they actually have different roles in different section where it is actually the iHH is what determines the proliferative capacity and the PTHrP is what determines the hypertrophic ability. Of course we have to realize that it would appear the scientists reached this conclusion from mathematical derivation in looking at local, very simplified concentration gradients.

Note to the readers:

  • The Ihh is expressed in the pre-hypertrophic chondrocytes
  • The PTHrP is expressed in the perichondrium
However, there is not denying the fact that the PTHrP does control the amount of ihh concentration and it is the what causes the first step in the entire feedback loop to initiate.
This study actually brought me back to another study, “Parathyroid hormone-related peptide expression in the epiphyseal growth plate of the juvenile chicken: evidence for the origin of the parathyroid hormone-related peptide found in the epiphyseal growth plate.“The abstract is below…

J Cell Biochem. 2001;80(4):504-11.Parathyroid hormone-related peptide expression in the epiphyseal growth plate of the juvenile chicken: evidence for the origin of the parathyroid hormone-related peptide found in the epiphyseal growth plate.

Medill NJ, Praul CA, Ford BC, Leach RM.

Source

Department of Poultry Science, 213 William L. Henning Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA.

Abstract

Parathyroid hormone-related peptide (PTHrP) has been shown to be essential for normal endochondral bone formation. Along with Indian hedgehog (Ihh), it forms a paracrine regulatory loop that governs the pace of chondrocyte differentiation. However, the source of PTHrP for this regulatory loop is not clear. While one hypothesis has suggested the periarticular perichondrium as the source of PTHrP for growth plate regulation, other data utilizing immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization would indicate that growth plate chondrocytes themselves are the source of this peptide. The data described in this report supports the view that postnatal growth plate chondrocytes have the ability to synthesize this important regulatory peptide. Immunohistochemistry of tissue sections showed that PTHrP protein was evident throughout the chick epiphysis. PTHrP was seen in chondrocytes in the periarticular perichondrium, the perichondrium adjacent to the growth plate, the prehypertrophic zone of the growth plate, and the hypertrophic zone of the growth plate. However, cells in the proliferative zone, as well as some chondrocytes in the deeper layers of articular cartilage were predominantly negative for PTHrP. PTHrP was detected by Western blotting as a band of 16,400 Da in extracts from hypertrophic chondrocytes, but not from proliferative cells. RT-PCR detected PTHrP mRNA in both proliferative and hypertrophic growth plate chondrocytes, as well as in articular chondrocytes. PTH/PTHrP receptor mRNA was detected by Northern blotting in growth plate, but not articular chondrocytes. Thus, we conclude that most of the PTHrP present in the epiphyseal growth plate of the juvenile chick originates in the growth plate itself. Furthermore, the presence of large amounts of PTHrP protein in the hypertrophic zone supports the concept that PTHrP has other functions in addition to regulating chondrocyte differentiation.

Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

PMID: 11169734  [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Personal Interpretation: Let’s assume that the study on chickens is the same as humans, since the other PubMed studies done on lab animals like rats showed a similar negative paracrine feedback loop.  This means that we know where the Parathyroid hormone-related peptide is coming from, the growth plates themselves. Sure, they might be coming from somewhere else as well, like the adrenal glands or the thyroid glands, however the majority of the PTHrP that makes up the PTH/PTHrP and iHH loop comes from the growth plates. The PTH obviously comes from the parathyroid glands. The researchers found the PTHrP mRNA in two areas, the hypertrophic area, and the proliferative layer. We saw in the previous study that the researchers believed the PTHrP is coming from the perichondrium, closer to the articular cartilage region. However this study seems to disapprove that view.

The big thing that is very interesting is that you don’t find the PTHrP in the articular cartilage, but only the epiphyseal cartilage. 

Let’s now look at the Wikipedia article on the Parathyroid hormone related peptide. “It is occasionally secreted by cancer cells (breast cancer, certain types of lung cancer including squamous cell carcinoma)…It regulates endochondral bone development by maintaining the endochondral growth plate at a constant width….PTHrP is related in function to the “normal” parathyroid hormone. When a tumor secretes PTHrP, this can lead to hypercalcemia.[3] As this is sometimes the first sign of the malignancy.”

From the Wikipedia article on Hypercalcemia, we learn that hypercalcemia is “is an elevated calcium level in the blood.” How this condition is related back to the PTH/PTHrP where the PTH/PTHrP ratio and balance has a main function where it controls how much calcium is supposed to either be in the blood stream or be absorbed to the inorganic bone matrix making it harder.

In my personal research I have actually found a weak inverse correlation between bone density and bone length. Since the calcium absorption to the bone is correlated to bone density, if the PTHrP is causing the calcium to be lost from the bone matrix, that means that the bone is weaker, so it is weaker allowing it to be more easily modified (ie. lengthened). What is given is that its mechanical properties which measure strength of the bone is smaller.

Remember also that we have found a rather strong correlation between great height and increase cancer risk. What I believe is that we have found the very first major compound which can lead to possible epiphyseal plate regrowth en vivo/ endogenously. However a huge warning must be put to this post because of the nature of what we are intending to do. Nature is wise in keeping humans and other animals to a certain size. It has many mechanisms that turn on so that e don’t overgrow out of bounds. Technically, any growth of bone size after cartilage closure probably has an extremely high risk and chance for developing into forms of cancer.

The idea is really just get more PTHrP into the growth plate, since it seems to have a positive correlation to keeping the growth plate thickness intact, and has the ability to reverse the hypertrophic chondrocytes back to the proliferative stage. This means that the growing age range can be extended, as long as the person has some chondrocytes in the resting zone left. The idea is to use two types of injection needles. One is to add new progenitor cells into the resting zone so that there will be more initial raw material (ir. progenitor chondorcytes) to work with. The 2nd injection is the PTHrP, which would cause the chondrocytes to focus more on proliferation and actually keep them from hypertrophizing. The 3rd injection would be for the iHH which would cause the iHH expression to increase and push the process of chondrocye differentiation back. Adding a fourth injection of other growth factors like BMPs and FGF-2 would lead to the chondrocytes to proliferate even more. All that is required after that is for the chondrocytes to reach past the endochondral layer and get to the outside to get a chance to push in the right direction. If we do not keep the growth direction correctly, it could lead to just forms of chondrocsarcoma and osteosarcoma.

This method to regrow the plate over again is the first time I have seen that the width of the plate can be increased again. The fact that it says very clearly in the Wikipedia article that the PTHrP is secreted by cancer cells shows that this is the type of compound that would be needed to restart the cartilages again.

Treatment Of Osteoarthritis And Prevention Of Height Loss In Old Age With Intra-Articular Hyaluronan, Sinovial In Viscosupplementation

Sometimes in the research we find useful information which can be used in medical application beyond our intended cosmetic desire to be taller. In the past, many studies showed that the height increasing technology and research can be used to heal bones at accelerated rates, reverse cavities and teeth decay, regrow teeth, treat arthritis and joint pain, etc.

Recent research has brought about the standard and common treatment of using Hyaluronan which is Hyaluronic Acid to treat osteoarthritis. The basic idea is to use a medical technique called viscosupplementation where the Hyaluronan is injected intra-articularly (within the joint).

The main idea obviously is to treat pain that develops from the forms of osteoarthritis that can develop, but most often shows up in old age. What I propose that this form of injection can not only lead to decrease in knee/joint pain, it can also lead to the prevention of some height loss.

3 PubMed studies are cited below with abstracts copy and pasted for the middle sutdy…

The role of intra-articular hyaluronan (Sinovial) in the treatment of osteoarthritis. 

Viscosupplementation with intra-articular hyaluronic acid for treatment of osteoarthritis in the elderly.
Viscosupplementation for the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee.

Curr Pharm Des. 2010;16(6):631-40.

Viscosupplementation with intra-articular hyaluronic acid for treatment of osteoarthritis in the elderly.

Abate M, Pulcini D, Di Iorio A, Schiavone C.

Source

Department of Clinical Sciences and Bioimaging, Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies (ITAB), University G. d’ Annunzio, Chieti-Pescara, Italy. m.abate@unich.it

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is very disabling condition in the elderly. The current therapeutic approaches (analgesics, NSAIDs, COX-2 inhibitors, steroids) do not delay the OA progression or reverse joint damage. Moreover, they may cause relevant systemic side effects. Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a physiologic component of the synovial fluid and is reduced in OA joints. Therefore, intra-articular injection of HA, due to its viscoelastic properties and protective effect on articular cartilage and soft tissue surfaces of joints, can restore the normal articular homoeostasis. These effects are evident when HA is properly administered into the articular space; therefore, the use of “image-guided” infiltration techniques is mandatory. Viscosupplementation (VS), with different HA preparations (Low and High molecular weight), can be considered when the patient has not found pain relief from other therapies or is intolerant to analgesics or NSAIDs. A 3-5 doses regimen is usually recommended with 1 week interval between each injection. Several studies have shown the efficacy of HA for the treatment of knee OA, with positive effects on pain, articular function (Western Ontario and Mc Master Universities Osteoarthritis Index [WOMAC], Lequesne Index [LI], Range of Motion [ROM]), subjective global assessment and reduction in NSAIDs consumption. In general, the benefit is evident within 3 months and persists in the following 6-12 months. Encouraging but inconclusive results have also been observed for the treatment of shoulder, carpo-metacarpal, hip and ankle OA. However there is the need of better designed studies to prove the effectiveness of these medications, in order to rule out a placebo effect. The therapy is well tolerated with absence of systemic side effects and only with limited local discomfort.

PMID: 20388073  [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]

Analysis: It would seem that there are many, many ideas on how to treat knee and joint pain that often results from old age. Besides just using the Hyaluronan and its derivatives (Adant, Arthrum H, Artz (Artzal, Supartz), BioHy (Arthrease, Euflexxa, Nuflexxa), Durolane, Fermathron, Go-On, Hyalgan, Hylan G-F 20 (Synvisc Hylan G-F 20), Hyruan, NRD-101 (Suvenyl), Orthovisc, Ostenil, Replasyn, SLM-10, Suplasyn, Synject and Zeel compositum) we can also use the traditional anti-inflammatory compounds like corticosteroids (Intraarticular corticosteroid for treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee.) and NSAIDs. The more natural way and using compounds very similar to collagenous material already found in the human body endogenously, using the Hyaluronan derivatives may be the safer better idea. When I saw these studies, I remembered that one of the easiest minimal invasive techniques to possibly lead to slight height increase was to inject the Hyaluronan into the synovial joint cavity and possibly let it expand slightly. After thinking over this already practiced technique used by physicians on the elderly, I am proposing that the injections if done as a high level can lead to some height increase, maybe 2-3 extra millimeters.

Kiwoomi Rice With Eleutherococcus Senticosus And Artemisia Capillaris Extract Shows Proof That It Can Increase Children’s Height (Breakthrough)

Big Correction In Error: In a very recent post I had made a mistake in thinking that a certain paper was the same as another but new research has indicated that the two papers were different. However the results from this 2nd paper is definitely worth mentioning.

Screen Shot 2012-12-29 at 4.35.33 PMFrom the post on Dec. 28, 2012 entitled “Scientific Study Shows Chinese Plant Extract Eleutherococcus Senticosus And Artemisia Capillaris Infused In Kiwoomi Rice Enhanced Growth Rates” I was trying to mainly refer to the first study entitled “Study On the Developed Of Rise with Plant Extracts For Enhancing Growth Rates.”

At the end of that post, I had made a mistake in linking another study entitled “The Development Of Functional Food With Plant Extracts For Enhancing Growth Rate“. The title were very similar and I was trying to find a translated version of the entire article so I did not realize that two papers were different.

Quick Analysis

For the first study, the two compounds Eleutherococcus Senticosus And Artemisia Capillaris were tested on fish and rats. The 2nd study were done on pigs and human children. The results from the 2nd study The Development Of Functional Food With Plant Extracts For Enhancing Growth Rate” showed that the the two extracts mixed with rice when given to pigs caused them to increase in body weight showing increased growth rates. The pig’s blood levels of IGF-1 and GH were measured and the growth hormones were both found to have been increased. The study then was taken to elementary school children and the children showed a growth rate that was over 2X as much as the controlled group. A clip of the 2nd study is to the left.

Screen Shot 2012-12-29 at 4.42.03 PM

 

Introduction

Hangul

Various kinds of medicinal herbs, green active with promoting the growth of animals and humans have been reported.Used as experimental animals to verify the selected plant growth promoting effects of fish and pork. Acanthopanax koreanum extract from experimental fish extracts and plant extracts, showed that the most effective and the results of these plant extracts fed to pigs, average daily weight gain compared to the control group increased by 7.06 percent. In order to verify the results of this, we measured the secretion of growth hormone (GH) in the blood, and Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) the amount of GH secreted into the blood compared to the control group, and the amount of IGF-1 was significantly higher in the pigs fed plant extracts. Researchers to evaluate the growth promoting effects in humans mixed in the rice plant extracts coated raise U.S. ^ (TM) (Kiwoomi ^ (TM)) were prepared. Raise U.S. ^ (TM) for elementary school students to eat when he was effective in the key growth was confirmed. Dosing did more than raise U.S. ^ (TH) were fed the kids were grown (about 2.14 times). As a result, this is expected functional rice (Kiwoomi ^ (TM)) without any other side effects on the growth of children that help English abstract It has been reported that various kinds of chinese herbs have an activity to promote growth rate in both animals and human. To investigate the growth promoting effect of the selected plants, fish and pigs were used as experimental animals. In fish, Eleutherococcus senticosus extract and Arteinisia capillasis extract were found to be most effective. And these plant extracts were given to pigs. The result showed that plant extracts-fed pigs were significantly increased their body weight gain at 7.06% of average daily gain, as compared to control. To verify this result, secreted growth hormone (GH) levels and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels into blood were measured. This result indicated that GH and IGF-1 levels in the blood in plant extracts-fed pigs were higher than those of control. To confirm growth promotion effect on human, we manufactured the mixture of these plant extracts, and coated this mixture onto rice, named as Kiwoomi ^ (TM). When we administered Kiwoomi ^ (TM) to elementary students, it was found to be effective in growth promotion. This result showed that Kiwoomi ^ (TM)-treated elementary students significantly increased their growth rate (about 2.14 times), as compared to untreated children.Taken together, it is suggested that this functional rice (Kiwoomi ^ (TM)) might be helpful for growing children without any side effects.

Conclusion: What I can determine from the abtract and/or introduction is that we have a real growth enhancing herbal supplement, if we can other Korean/Chinese traditional medicine based growth enhancing extracts like the HT042 for large scale testing. The Eleutherococcus senticosus that I keep on seeing over and over again in these studies from Wikipedia…

Eleutherococcus senticosus (synonym Acanthopanax senticosus) is a species of small, woody shrub in the family Araliaceae native toNortheastern Asia. It is often colloquially referred to as Siberian Ginseng, eleuthero or Ciwujia. E. senticosus has a history of use intraditional Chinese medicine where it is known as cì wǔ jiā (刺五加).[1]

For the extract Artemisia Capillaris I am finding that it has a very long hisotry of medicinal uses in many cultures. 

Apparently the primary author of both the articles, a Mr. Jeong Chan Ra, is selling this Kiwoomi brand name rice on the internet on sites like Alibaba.com and TradeKorea.com.

From the product details tab on the Alibaba webpage that sells this rice. However I am kind of suspicious to wonder why a university researcher would be manufacturing and selling this compound on such online trading websites.

Quick Details

Function: Immune & Anti-Fatigue Dosage Form: Tablets

Specifications

Kiwoomi
This organic rice coated with natural ingredients from Artemisia Capilares Thumb, Acanthopanax, and Red ginseng

For Human

  • Kiwoomi
    This organic rice coated with natural ingredients from Artemisia Capilares Thumb, Acanthopanax, and Red ginseng, which helps secretion of growth promoters. It may help growth, reinforce immune system and power of concertration.
  • Kiwoomi chewable, Tablets
    This is an orange flavored chewable tablet of highly concentrated calcium and essentail nutrition for children of growth period.
  • For Animal
  • Biomate
    Biomate is the natural growth promoter comprising natural growth hormone secretagogues, which are developed by natural materails screening technology of RNL Bio, Ltd.

Korean Medicine Extracts Hansogdan, Phlomis Umbrosa and Dalgaebi, Commelina Communis In Milk Enhances Height

In a follow up to a very recent post where I looked at the possible height increasing potential of Korean/Chinese traditional medicinal plant extracts Eleutherococcus Senticosus and Artemisia Capillaris (spelled wrong last time)  entitled “Scientific Study Shows Chinese Plant Extract Eleutherococcus Senticosus And Artemisia Capillasis Infused In Kiwoomi Rice Enhanced Growth Rates” I was some searching to see if there was any more articles similar in nature and I came across a study that was entitled “Effect of combined extract of Hansogdan (Phlomis umbrosa) and Dalgaebi(Commelina communis) as a milk additive for enhancing the growth of physical heightin vivo“

From the SpringerLink database…

Food Science and Biotechnology

June 2012, Volume 21, Issue 3, pp 875-879

Effect of combined extract of Hansogdan (Phlomis umbrosa) and Dalgaebi(Commelina communis) as a milk additive for enhancing the growth of physical heightin vivo

Abstract

Three different dosage groups for the mixed plant extract of hansogdan (Phlomis umbrosa) anddalgaebi (Commelina communis) (5, 25, and 100 mg/kg/day respectively) were evaluated in rats for the investigation of the enhancement of growth of physical height as a milk additive. Comparing to control group, the nose-to-tail (N-T) length was significantly increased in all treatment groups with a dose dependent manner, nose-to-anus (N-A) length was increased significantly in 25 and 100 mg/kg groups, the increase in both N-T and N-A lengths in 100 mg/kg group was almost same to that of positive group, and the femoral bone length in 25 mg/kg group was significantly increased. In result, the consumption of the mixed extract with milk could stimulate the longitudinal growth and that the addition of the mixed herbal extract into the milk could be more effective than milk itself in terms of the growth of physical height in rats.

Analysis: It seems that whatever these two compound extracts are, they have a good positive effect on the growth rate of at least young experimental rats. The key now is to find out how to obtain the Hansogdan, Phlomis umbrosa and the Dalgaebi, Commelina communis for western countries.

What I see from a quick glance is that the compound/ extract has been mentioned before, in another post I had posted a while ago entitled “A Korean Herbal Supplement Mixture To Possibly Increase Height (From HeightQuest.Com)” .

The actual scientific paper I only glanced at was  entitled “Korean herbal supplement HT042 makes bones longer“ . The compound which was a Korean herbal supplement was HT042 which had 3 compounds we are seeing over and over again.

  1. Astragalus membranaceus
  2. Phlomis umbrosa 
  3. Eleutherococcus senticosus

What is really interesting is that each of these three compounds we are seeing in other papers and databases. The actual PubMed study for the HT042 paper is entitled “The herbal formula HT042 induces longitudinal bone growth in adolescent female rats.” It is posted below…

J Med Food. 2010 Dec;13(6):1376-84. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2010.1007.

The herbal formula HT042 induces longitudinal bone growth in adolescent female rats.

Kim MY, Park Y, Pandit NR, Kim J, Song M, Park J, Choi HY, Kim H.

Source

Department of Herbal Pharmacology, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

The effect of HT042, a blend of three herbal extracts, on longitudinal bone growth was investigated in short- and long-term rat models. In the short-term model, we divided female Sprague-Dawley rats (3 weeks old) into six groups, according to treatment: vehicle, HT042 (100 mg/kg), Phlomis umbrosa (100 mg/kg), Astragalus membranaceus (100 mg/kg), and Eleutherococcus senticosus (100 mg/kg) were administered twice daily, and recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) (1 IU) was subcutaneously injected once daily. Treatments were maintained for 4 days in each case. On day 3, tetracycline (20 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally (20 mg/kg) to form the fluorescent band on the growth plates. On days 2-4, 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU) (50 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally to label proliferating cells. On day 5, the tibias were dissected and fixed in 30% sucrose. Dehydrated bone was sectioned at a thickness of 40 μm and observed. The bone growth in groups administered HT042 and rhGH was significantly increased to 433.50 ± 21.61 and 434.49 ± 15.21 μm/day, respectively, from 410.03 ± 17.4 μm/day (control). The height of the growth plates in the HT042 and rhGH groups was also significantly increased to 556.5 ± 21.1 and 544.2 ± 21.1 μm (P < .05), respectively, from 518.1 ± 4.1 μm (normal). The number of BrdU-positive cells in chondrocytes of the HT042 and rhGH groups was increased to 389 ± 36 and 627 ± 39 cells/mm² (P < .001), respectively, from 264 ± 17 cells/mm² (control). Insulin-like growth factor-1 and bone morphogenetic protein-2 in the HT042 group were highly expressed in the growth plate. In the long-term rat model, the body weight, nose-tail length, and nose-anus length were measured by microknemometry for 4 weeks. The body weight of the rhGH group was significantly increased. The nose-anus length of the HT042 and rhGH groups was significantly greater at 18.5 ± 0.3 and 18.7 ± 0.3 cm compared to 18.2 ± 0.2 cm (control).

PMID: 21091251 [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]
Analysis: While the results showed only a 3-5 mm increase for the rat groups, we can probably scale up the dosages for humans and their results would be bigger and pronounced. 
Other studies very close to this study were “Skeletal Growth and IGF Levels in Rats after HT042 Treatment.”
Phytother Res. 2012 Dec;26(12):1771-8. doi: 10.1002/ptr.4642. Epub 2012 Mar 3.

Skeletal Growth and IGF Levels in Rats after HT042 Treatment.

Kim MY, Kim JY, Lim D, Lee D, Kim Y, Chang GT, Choi HY, Kim H.

Source

Department of Herbal Pharmacology, College of Oriental Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Hoegi-dong, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 130-701, Republic of Korea; Korea Institute of Science and Technology for Eastern Medicine (KISTEM), NeuMed Inc., Seoul, 130-701, Republic of Korea.

Abstract

HT042, a new herbal prescription consisting of Astragalus membranaceus, Phlomis umbrosa and Eleutherococcus senticosus, is used in traditional Korean medicine to stimulate growth in children. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of HT042 on skeletal growth, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) levels, and oestrogenic activity in female rats. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into control, recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH; 20 µg/kg/day), and HT042 (100 mg/kg/day) groups and treated for 3 weeks. Axial skeletal growth, femur length, and growth plate length were measured every 3 weeks. The serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were analysed. Moreover, the oestrogenic activity of the herbal extracts in the immature and ovariectomized rats was tested. The nose-anus, nose-tail, femur and growth-plate lengths were increased significantly in the HT042 group. Both IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were highly expressed in the hypertrophic zone of the growth plate. The serum IGF-1 levels were increased. Moreover, HT042 had no uterotrophic effects in the rats. Consequently, HT042 promoted longitudinal bone growth by stimulating cell proliferation in the epiphyseal plate and inducing the expression of IGF-1 without an oestrogenic response. HT042 may be helpful in stimulating growth in children with short stature. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PMID: 22388791   [PubMed – in process]

Conclusion: What we are finding may be one of the first real height increase herbal formulations that can really work in helping developing children to help increase height and grow taller. The side effects seem to be very little and the natural compound has great potential. So right now we have 5 big extracts that we can line up and say has high potential in increasing the growth rate of young children still growing.

  1. Astragalus membranaceus
  2. Phlomis umbrosa (Hansogdan)
  3. Eleutherococcus senticosus
  4. Artemisia Capillaris
  5. Commelina communis (anddalgaebi/Dalgaebi)

I’ll try to go to a local oriental medicine place and get those compounds for analysis.

What Would You Do If Somebody Found Out That You Are Wearing Lifts? With Videos

Earlier today I got an email from one of the regular readers of the website Abel and he suggested two post ideas I could write about. The first post was more philosophical in nature and I decided that I’ll save that post idea for a time in the future but I felt the 2nd post idea was something that is worth considering and addressing right now.

The question is “What would you do if somebody found out that you are wearing lifts?”

For some people who are height conscious they might decide to use the shoe lifts to make themselves look a little taller. For some people in the height increase community, the lifts are just another part of their lives, and they make them feel better about themselves when they are outside in public. For people who don’t use the lifts, it is hard for them to understand why a person would choose to wear the lifts to pretend or hide their true height. It seems that the people who don’t understand that so often, people need to do many things to hide their ego or sense of identity and self worth from attack or damage. We all do it, and I will not judge people.

For me, I remember that I tried out the lifts before in my period of obsession to see how they would feel and look. While I never went online or ordered those real lifts you find on some online stores,  I remember going to Walmart and buying a few insoles which were about half a cm thick and stacking them into a shoe or boot to see how well they worked. Overall, I found the experience to be rather nice. Walking out, I did feel a little more confident and less insecure about my height. It felt good and I continued to wear them until I met my girlfriend. At that point, I felt that it was time to go back to ordinary shoes.

I remember that I would always, at the back of my mind, be comparing myself in height to everyone that walked by. it was a really strange obsession I had and the shoes I was wearing made me feel taller and better throughout the day, even if it was a lie. I would find out years later that people actually have to live with some lies to be able to even function in life for certain situations. The ego defense mechanisms like denial, repression, justification, rationalizations, etc. all work perfectly to protect a person from going down the path of depression or suicide.

I personally think that if someone found out that I was wearing some form of height increasing footwear, whether it is the specially designed shoes, or the thick insoles you stuff into your shoes, I might be slightly embarrassed and ashamed at my insecurity and need to use them for a short while. Then I would explicitly tell them that I feel insecure about my height and enjoy wearing lifts because it makes me feel better and more confident when I am outside. Then mentally and emotional move on and go on about my day in some way.

I realize that at my age of nearly 30, so many people everywhere, everyday do things, act certain ways, and buy things for them to use which tries to hide some form of insecurity. For example

  1. Balding and/or bald men who wear toupees and fake hair to try to cover up it up since they feel insecure about it.
  2. Women suffering from breast cancer who wear hats and wigs to cover up their bald head which resulted from their chemotherapy treatment
  3. Middle age men and women who are forced to wear adults diapers because they have some form of medical issue which causes them to have a low ability to control their bowel movements.
  4. People who carry inflatable ring cushions/pillows for their severe hemorrhoids problems because they just can’t sit down without it.
  5. Having a flatulence problems causing major public embarrassment when they fart at their work place or something similar.
  6. The teenage guy who is very smart being prepared at all times carry 1 condom in his wallet in his back pocket for “interesting situations”.
  7. The girl who wakes up at 5 am in the morning each day just so she can spend the “neccessary” 1 hour to put on 2 mm thick of makeup to hide what she thinks are her ugliness.
  8. The former rocker who always must wear long sleeves to cover up the tattoos he got when he was younger and going through that phase of rebellion and self expression through skin decorations and body modifications.
  9. The former suicidal girl who always must wear long sleeves to cover up the scars you would find on her wrists.
  10. The middle age male who carries viagra around for “special occasions”.
  11. The overweight men who wear girdles to give a look that they don’t have a ever increasing waistline.

At this point, I am willing to tell the readers that in the last few years, after my parents have retired in relative financial comfort, they have gone under the knife to correct for lazy eyes, moles, and crows feet. Me and my siblings have been quick to be confused at why they would choose to do it and made fun of them a little, but after maybe 10 minutes, the jokes and the the taunting stops because we realize that it doesn’t affect them since they are past all that stuff now. They wanted to go through with it, did it, had the resources to do it, and they don’t care about what even their family members have said.

Now, are they just being vain and superficial for wanting these things? Maybe, and maybe not. It doesn’t really matter.

At the area I live in, everyday I see women and men who walk by me with bandaids and wound gauzes on their nose and eye area, from them having that day plastic surgery to change something about themselves. The surgery was for cosmetic reasons, not from a real medical pathology. At some level they had felt it nessecary to have a surgeon cut into their face and change what they were born with because they didn’t feel like they were enough or beautiful enough. We could argue and be upset at them for a decision which we think is stupid but they don’t. People will do whatever they want to do and most of the time, there is little you can say or do to stop them from doing something, if they are really intent on doing it.

At this point in my life, I really don’t care what other people think about me, what I do, or what I think. When I think about the short time I have left on this earth, I realize that I have to just let go of the small things, and focus on the big things in life. If I cared too much about what other people thought of me and the judgement they have of me, it would paralyze me from taking action and changing the world in a world that makes it better.

I have decided to post a video I had shot of a outside shop stand where an old man was selling height increasing insoles at a certain location of the city I am living in currently.

We see that even celebrities do the same thing, maybe even more so with this clip of former Singer Jessica Simpson who was very pregnant come on the Ellen Show with her 5 inches heels. It seems that maybe Jessica Simpson also had a sort of short stature complex. Her current husband is a 6′ 3″ football player while she stands somewhere between 5′ 3″-5′ 4″ (source). She seems to have a strong resistance to stop wearing high heels (source) (source) (source). She has even joked that she wished to give birth to her kid in 4 inch Yves  Saint Laurent Pumps.

Scientific Study Shows Chinese Plant Extract Eleutherococcus Senticosus And Artemisia Capillaris Infused In Kiwoomi Rice Enhanced Growth Rates

Update And Correction Dec.29, 2012: New information and research reveals that the two studies I have posted here are actually two different studies. That was a mistake. Disregard the bottom half of this post, everything under the cut off line. One was done on fish and rats. The other study which I go in a little more in depth on in a future post shows that the 2nd study was done on pigs and humans, with the overall same results.

This may be a huge idea to help keep young kids from having stunted growth due to bad nutrition and living conditions. I am not even sure how I found this paper but I entered the phrase “Effect of plant extract YGF on inducement of IGF-1” into Google and the first result that it gave me led to me to a paper entitled “Study On the Developed Of Rise with Plant Extracts For Enhancing Growth Rates.”

The scientific study and paper was published in the Korean J. Oriental Physiology & Pathology 17(3): 815-818, 2003.

  • Note #1: The translation is bad and the word “Rise” should be “Rice“. The study was talking about rice infused with the extracts
  • Note #2: The full article in PDF form is available on the link above.
  • Note #3: The translation was bad and one of the compounds, Artemisia capillasis, was misspelled. The correct spelling of the plan extract is Artemisia capillaris.

Abstract

Screen Shot 2012-12-28 at 1.41.50 PMNote: Due to the fact that I couldn’t easily just copy and paste the abstract text, I have clipped and pasted a jpg of the abstract section of the document. It is to the right.

Personal Analysis

The big thing for the average reader to take away is that when the two compounds Eleutherococcus senticosus and Artemisia capillasis as an extract were mixed into the rice/ food for both fish and rats, the experimental groups for both animals showed an enhanced rate of growth. It seems that the GH and IGF-1 levels were increased, but I am not sure how those levels can be tested in animals. The Kiwoomi rice that the exacts were infused with don’t seem to be that important so it is probable that we can use any type of rice or food alternative to be used with the exacts, or just take the extracts by themselves.  The researchers claim that the rice, not the extracts “can be helpful for growing children”

Note: Read the introduction part below for a more detailed analysis of the study if you are a serious height increase researcher .

The paper was written by a few Korean researchers in the Korean language Hangul so I had to do a little more searching to find a translated version of the paper. While I did not find a version of a complete translated place for the Korean document, I did find from this source HERE a translated part of the Introduction…

Introduction

Hangul

various kinds of medicinal herbs, green active with promoting the growth of animals and humans have been reported.Used as experimental animals to verify the selected plant growth promoting effects of fish and pork. Acanthopanax koreanum extract from experimental fish extracts and plant extracts, showed that the most effective and the results of these plant extracts fed to pigs, average daily weight gain compared to the control group increased by 7.06 percent. In order to verify the results of this, we measured the secretion of growth hormone (GH) in the blood, and Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) the amount of GH secreted into the blood compared to the control group, and the amount of IGF-1 was significantly higher in the pigs fed plant extracts. Researchers to evaluate the growth promoting effects in humans mixed in the rice plant extracts coated raise U.S. ^ (TM) (Kiwoomi ^ (TM)) were prepared. Raise U.S. ^ (TM) for elementary school students to eat when he was effective in the key growth was confirmed. Dosing did more than raise U.S. ^ (TH) were fed the kids were grown (about 2.14 times). As a result, this is expected functional rice (Kiwoomi ^ (TM)) without any other side effects on the growth of children that help English abstract It has been reported that various kinds of chinese herbs have an activity to promote growth rate in both animals and human. To investigate the growth promoting effect of the selected plants, fish and pigs were used as experimental animals. In fish, Eleutherococcus senticosus extract and Arteinisia capillasis extract were found to be most effective. And these plant extracts were given to pigs. The result showed that plant extracts-fed pigs were significantly increased their body weight gain at 7.06% of average daily gain, as compared to control. To verify this result, secreted growth hormone (GH) levels and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) levels into blood were measured. This result indicated that GH and IGF-1 levels in the blood in plant extracts-fed pigs were higher than those of control. To confirm growth promotion effect on human, we manufactured the mixture of these plant extracts, and coated this mixture onto rice, named as Kiwoomi ^ (TM). When we administered Kiwoomi ^ (TM) to elementary students, it was found to be effective in growth promotion. This result showed that Kiwoomi ^ (TM)-treated elementary students significantly increased their growth rate (about 2.14 times), as compared to untreated children.Taken together, it is suggested that this functional rice (Kiwoomi ^ (TM)) might be helpful for growing children without any side effects.

Conclusion: At this point, I wanted to end the post and I will put the two compounds/extracts Eleutherococcus senticosus and Artemisia capillasis on my list of things to do research on for the future.