- Jun 25, 2006
- 5,046
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The Science of Batman?
As part of a study just recently published, scientists at Yonsei University in Korea are working to see if they can unlock the anti-catabolic secrets of bats.1 Like bears, bats are known to hibernate for long periods, often many months at a time. During this period of physical immobility, they lose little muscle mass. This is very different from humans, who notice marked muscle loss very quickly once the muscles are no longer being worked regularly, such as in hospitalization or limb immobilization.
Anyone who has taken a cast off their arm or leg can attest to how quickly one can lose muscle mass under such conditions. This particular study sought to look at the metabolic changes that occur during a prolonged hibernation period, to see if they can help pinpoint why it is that these bats are not losing muscle.
Researchers examined groups of hibernating and active Murina leucogaster bats. One of the notable findings during the investigation was that levels of p-FoxO1 remained unaltered during prolonged muscle disuse. Short for Forkhead box O1, this gene transcription factor is a major trigger in proteolysis, or the breakdown of amino acids that leads to muscle atrophy. In fact, the forkhead-type transcription factors are believed to be a common link in muscle-wasting related to many diseased states.2 For some unexplained reason, in spite of immobilization, the bat metabolism maintained homeostasis with regard to protein retention. While this research is still very early, it is not unthinkable to believe that it may one day lead to metabolic interventions that can help humans retain/build more muscle, too.
AAS and Musculoskeletal Injuries
We’ve long heard the argument. Steroids increase the likelihood of musculoskeletal injury because they stimulate the rapid growth of muscle tissue— sometimes too rapid for the supportive structures to keep up with. In particular, we often hear about tendon pulls and tears. Tendons are the flexible fibrous collagen tissues that attach the muscles to bone. As the argument goes, steroid use can cause the muscles to drastically expand in size and strength, which in turn can significantly increase the physical load on the tendons, which may not notice the same anabolic compensation. If too much force is being exerted, the tendons may strain or rupture. Indeed, there has been some support for heightened musculoskeletal injuries in steroid users over the years, but also a great deal of controversy about this subject, too.
Adding to this issue is a study recently published in the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.3 The researchers here sought to investigate the relationship between anabolic steroid use and musculoskeletal injuries in more than 2,500 retired professional football players. The data was gathered from self-reported health questionnaires, which were completed between 2001 and 2003. In going over the data, researchers noticed a significant association between past steroid use and an increase in the likelihood of injury in the following areas: disc herniations, knee ligamentous/meniscal injury, elbow injuries, neck stinger/burner, spine injury, and foot/toe/ankle injuries.
Paradoxically, however, there was no association between anabolic-androgenic steroid use and the types of issue we would most likely expect to see, namely muscle/tendon injuries. Instead, these appear to be fundamental injuries one would associate with a full contact sport like football. It is difficult to speculate exactly what this data means, as in a way it seems to support both sides of the argument. Perhaps the link is not to muscle strength at all, but simply more aggressive play, which in turn leads to more injuries?
Brazilian Sustanon
This sample of Sustanon comes from a regular reader in Brazil. He sent it in so we could see what the current item looks like, as the packaging of drug products seems to be a constantly changing thing these days. As some of you are familiar, Organon markets this drug under the Durateston brand name in Brazil, instead of the Sustanon name (or variant) it uses in most other countries. It is, however, the same exact drug, consisting of four different esters of the primary male androgen testosterone.
A human-grade steroid like this, from a reputable pharmaceutical company such as Organon, is in very high demand on the black market. As such, it will fetch a very high price for dealers. This, unfortunately, invites a great deal of interest by counterfeiters, who love to cash in on premium items.
I am often asked how to tell the difference between real and fake Organon products. Unfortunately, there is no surefire way to differentiate fakes these days, as many counterfeiters are highly sophisticated. You have to take them on an individual basis, examining each item very closely to be sure.
There is one common mistake that many counterfeiters do make, however, which I am happy to pass along. If you look very closely, you will notice that Organon uses a special letter “g” in its logo. It contains a specific twist to the hanging part of the letter. Many counterfeiters use normal computer fonts to duplicate the logo, which do not have the same letter. These fake logos may look good, but they are far from perfect.
I’ve included a magnified photo from the real Organon Durateston product for you to see. Look closely next time you come across a box. So long as you make sure your “g” looks the same, you would have at least eliminated the sloppy counterfeits.
Oral GH Coming?
Human growth hormone (somatropin) is a complex protein chain consisting of 191 amino acids. This protein is very fragile, and is rapidly broken down once it enters the digestive tract (the human body likes to break up protein chains into their individual amino acids for later reassembly, as needed). This has been a major roadblock to attempting any use of GH as an oral drug, which up until recently appeared more like a far-fetched fantasy than a realistic possibility. Whenever you would try to administer it orally, it would be efficiently chopped up into its constituent (unusable as a hormone) parts. Most scientists would have assumed growth hormone would never be available as anything but a traditional injectable medication.
New research funded by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, however, is turning the science of growth hormone delivery on its ear.4 Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy have been working with the protein, and realized that by attaching it to a transferrin molecule they could protect it from the destructive process of digestion.
Transferrin is known as a blood plasma fusion protein. It is responsible for carrying and delivering iron throughout the body, forming a strong but reversible bond with the metal. In the same regard, transferrin was shown to hold onto the GH protein during transport through the digestive tract, later releasing the hormone into the bloodstream.
This early experimentation was conducted on rats, and required the additional use of a protease inhibitor, which slows the gut digestion of proteins. While injection still appears to be more effective, these studies have achieved what beforehand was unthinkable. Perhaps one day we will see an effective oral growth hormone medication after all.
References:
1. Molecular mechanism underlying muscle mass retention in hibernating bats: Role of periodic arousal. Lee K, So H, Gwag T, Ju H, Lee JW, Yamashita M, Choi I. J Cell Physiol, 2009 Oct 21.
2. Is there a common mechanism linking muscle wasting in various disease types? Tisdale MJ. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care, 2007 Dec;1(4):287-92.
3. Self-reported anabolic-androgenic steroids use and musculoskeletal injuries: findings from the center for the study of retired athletes health survey of retired NFL players. Horn S, Gregory P, Guskiewicz KM. Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 2009 Mar;88(3):192-200.
4. Human growth hormone-transferrin fusion protein for oral delivery in hypophysectomized rats. Amet N, Wang W, Shen WC. J Control Release, 2009 Sep 15.
As part of a study just recently published, scientists at Yonsei University in Korea are working to see if they can unlock the anti-catabolic secrets of bats.1 Like bears, bats are known to hibernate for long periods, often many months at a time. During this period of physical immobility, they lose little muscle mass. This is very different from humans, who notice marked muscle loss very quickly once the muscles are no longer being worked regularly, such as in hospitalization or limb immobilization.
Anyone who has taken a cast off their arm or leg can attest to how quickly one can lose muscle mass under such conditions. This particular study sought to look at the metabolic changes that occur during a prolonged hibernation period, to see if they can help pinpoint why it is that these bats are not losing muscle.
Researchers examined groups of hibernating and active Murina leucogaster bats. One of the notable findings during the investigation was that levels of p-FoxO1 remained unaltered during prolonged muscle disuse. Short for Forkhead box O1, this gene transcription factor is a major trigger in proteolysis, or the breakdown of amino acids that leads to muscle atrophy. In fact, the forkhead-type transcription factors are believed to be a common link in muscle-wasting related to many diseased states.2 For some unexplained reason, in spite of immobilization, the bat metabolism maintained homeostasis with regard to protein retention. While this research is still very early, it is not unthinkable to believe that it may one day lead to metabolic interventions that can help humans retain/build more muscle, too.
AAS and Musculoskeletal Injuries
We’ve long heard the argument. Steroids increase the likelihood of musculoskeletal injury because they stimulate the rapid growth of muscle tissue— sometimes too rapid for the supportive structures to keep up with. In particular, we often hear about tendon pulls and tears. Tendons are the flexible fibrous collagen tissues that attach the muscles to bone. As the argument goes, steroid use can cause the muscles to drastically expand in size and strength, which in turn can significantly increase the physical load on the tendons, which may not notice the same anabolic compensation. If too much force is being exerted, the tendons may strain or rupture. Indeed, there has been some support for heightened musculoskeletal injuries in steroid users over the years, but also a great deal of controversy about this subject, too.
Adding to this issue is a study recently published in the American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.3 The researchers here sought to investigate the relationship between anabolic steroid use and musculoskeletal injuries in more than 2,500 retired professional football players. The data was gathered from self-reported health questionnaires, which were completed between 2001 and 2003. In going over the data, researchers noticed a significant association between past steroid use and an increase in the likelihood of injury in the following areas: disc herniations, knee ligamentous/meniscal injury, elbow injuries, neck stinger/burner, spine injury, and foot/toe/ankle injuries.
Paradoxically, however, there was no association between anabolic-androgenic steroid use and the types of issue we would most likely expect to see, namely muscle/tendon injuries. Instead, these appear to be fundamental injuries one would associate with a full contact sport like football. It is difficult to speculate exactly what this data means, as in a way it seems to support both sides of the argument. Perhaps the link is not to muscle strength at all, but simply more aggressive play, which in turn leads to more injuries?
Brazilian Sustanon
This sample of Sustanon comes from a regular reader in Brazil. He sent it in so we could see what the current item looks like, as the packaging of drug products seems to be a constantly changing thing these days. As some of you are familiar, Organon markets this drug under the Durateston brand name in Brazil, instead of the Sustanon name (or variant) it uses in most other countries. It is, however, the same exact drug, consisting of four different esters of the primary male androgen testosterone.
A human-grade steroid like this, from a reputable pharmaceutical company such as Organon, is in very high demand on the black market. As such, it will fetch a very high price for dealers. This, unfortunately, invites a great deal of interest by counterfeiters, who love to cash in on premium items.
I am often asked how to tell the difference between real and fake Organon products. Unfortunately, there is no surefire way to differentiate fakes these days, as many counterfeiters are highly sophisticated. You have to take them on an individual basis, examining each item very closely to be sure.
There is one common mistake that many counterfeiters do make, however, which I am happy to pass along. If you look very closely, you will notice that Organon uses a special letter “g” in its logo. It contains a specific twist to the hanging part of the letter. Many counterfeiters use normal computer fonts to duplicate the logo, which do not have the same letter. These fake logos may look good, but they are far from perfect.
I’ve included a magnified photo from the real Organon Durateston product for you to see. Look closely next time you come across a box. So long as you make sure your “g” looks the same, you would have at least eliminated the sloppy counterfeits.
Oral GH Coming?
Human growth hormone (somatropin) is a complex protein chain consisting of 191 amino acids. This protein is very fragile, and is rapidly broken down once it enters the digestive tract (the human body likes to break up protein chains into their individual amino acids for later reassembly, as needed). This has been a major roadblock to attempting any use of GH as an oral drug, which up until recently appeared more like a far-fetched fantasy than a realistic possibility. Whenever you would try to administer it orally, it would be efficiently chopped up into its constituent (unusable as a hormone) parts. Most scientists would have assumed growth hormone would never be available as anything but a traditional injectable medication.
New research funded by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, however, is turning the science of growth hormone delivery on its ear.4 Researchers at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy have been working with the protein, and realized that by attaching it to a transferrin molecule they could protect it from the destructive process of digestion.
Transferrin is known as a blood plasma fusion protein. It is responsible for carrying and delivering iron throughout the body, forming a strong but reversible bond with the metal. In the same regard, transferrin was shown to hold onto the GH protein during transport through the digestive tract, later releasing the hormone into the bloodstream.
This early experimentation was conducted on rats, and required the additional use of a protease inhibitor, which slows the gut digestion of proteins. While injection still appears to be more effective, these studies have achieved what beforehand was unthinkable. Perhaps one day we will see an effective oral growth hormone medication after all.
References:
1. Molecular mechanism underlying muscle mass retention in hibernating bats: Role of periodic arousal. Lee K, So H, Gwag T, Ju H, Lee JW, Yamashita M, Choi I. J Cell Physiol, 2009 Oct 21.
2. Is there a common mechanism linking muscle wasting in various disease types? Tisdale MJ. Curr Opin Support Palliat Care, 2007 Dec;1(4):287-92.
3. Self-reported anabolic-androgenic steroids use and musculoskeletal injuries: findings from the center for the study of retired athletes health survey of retired NFL players. Horn S, Gregory P, Guskiewicz KM. Am J Phys Med Rehabil, 2009 Mar;88(3):192-200.
4. Human growth hormone-transferrin fusion protein for oral delivery in hypophysectomized rats. Amet N, Wang W, Shen WC. J Control Release, 2009 Sep 15.