Andrographis - a possible Calcium Channel Blocker?

[bertiedog]

This morning I rewatched the DVD from InvestInME and took notes from Professor Don Staines very interesting talk on the role of TREGS and their functions especially their role in regulating calcium and the importance of it in intracellular signalling He has published research on this subject and there are further studies in the pipeline.

During the Q & A there was talk about the possible role of calcium channel blockers in helping ME/CFS sufferers which Professor Staines thought warranted further study.

As I suffer with almost daily migraines and the fact that taking calcium supplements makes them a lot worse I am interested in possibly trying a calcium channel blocker if my GP agrees.

Earlier in the year I had a period of about 5 weeks when I had unbelievable energy and felt almost normal though I did still experience brief episodes of PEM so this has led me to look back at my diary and note down everything I was taking for a month before this happened and also during this period and a month after.

What I have come up with is that I was taking during April, 750 mg Andrographis x 3 and also had a month of low dose Rimfaxamin during April. Otherwise it was just my normal multivitamin. I continued with the Andro on and off during mid May but stopped during most of June.

Recently I have experienced a flare of the illness which feels very inflammatory. My joints in my hands hurt and when I have a massage I feel much worse and ache all over plus my energy is back to where it was prior to this wonderful episode of feeling great, so I decided to look up the properties of Andrographis only to find there are studies showing it probably plays a role as a calcium channel blocker. The site Examine.com says this about the properties found in Andrographis -

"2Molecular Targets

2.1. TRPs
TRPV4 is a calcium channel that, upon activation, increases intracellular calcium and has been implicated in osmoregulation, nociception, regulation of vascular tone, and heat sensation[23] with some possible roles in heat regulation[24] and usually the pharmacological goal is to antagonize the channel.[23]

Bisandrographolide A has been noted to be an agonist of the TRPV4 receptor with an EC50 of 790-950nM without having any affinity for TRPV1-3; Andrographolide per se was inactive on any receptor.[15]

One of the secondary bioactives is a potent and highly selective TRPV4 receptor activator"

I have taken a course of Andrographis many times because of it's role in Lyme and it has always suited me though I did still get many bad heads whilst on this but generally I felt much stronger and physically a lot better.

I was wondering if others here have any experience with Andrographis and what are your thoughts on it acting as a possible calcium channel blocker?

Pam

 

[drob31]

This is very interesting and I recently starting taking andrographis 400 mg x 1 a day. I have no idea if it's helping, but I think so.

 

[Hip]

Bis-andrographolide A is not the only active compound found in the herb Andrographis paniculata.

Another compound is andrographolide, which inhibits interferon gamma and IL-2. Refs: 1 2 Andrographolide has potent anti-inflammatory effects via downregulating inflammatory iNOS and COX-2 gene expression. Ref: 1 This may be why Andrographis paniculata kept your inflammation at bay.

Andrographis paniculata herb contains around 1% to 2% andrographolide; you can buy 98% andrographolide on Aliexpress.

I was experimenting with doses of 300 mg of 98% andrographolide daily, and also with an Andrographis paniculata herbal extract containing 10% andrographolide, at doses of 1,200 mg of this extract daily.

This possibly may have increased my energy, libido, and reduced brain fog.

My main interest in andrographolide is that it inhibits STAT-3 activation in cells, and STAT-3 puts the brakes on the intracellular immune system (as STAT-3 blocks the effects of type I interferons like interferon alpha, which fight intracellular infections). So by taking andrographolide along with a few other STAT-3 inhibitors, I was hoping to boost my intracellular immune response, and clear intracellular viral infection (more details here).