Huperzine A : NMDA pathway, reduces glutamate Excitotoxicity associated with PD, ALS, and ALZ

Is anyone on this forum using Huperzine A?

There is an abundance of information on how it is effective at decreasing the glutamate excitoxicity which is known to cause neurological degeneration in ALS, PD, and ALZ.

[Hidden]

Huperzine A : neuro protection in ALS

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/183...

[park_bear in reply to Hidden]

This study

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/183...

makes use of treatment with 10 microM huperzine A. For a live animal that would amount to about 2.4 mg /kg, which seems like a reasonable dose.

The only problem is it is not:

researchgate.net/publicatio...

"Results: During 90 day canine toxicity studies huperzine A did not produce any major organ or general systemic toxicity at doses of 100 and 200ug/kg /day. At 300ug/kg tremors were seen in both genders"

drugs.com/npp/huperzine-a.html

"The acute oral median lethal dose of huperzine A in rats has been reported as 4.6 mg/kg and as an intravenous dose of 0.63 mg"

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I was not able to find any studies of huperzine in Parkinson's

[Hidden]

Huperzine A : Nootropics Expert (he also has a good YouTube video on it.)

nootropicsexpert.com/huperz...

[Hidden]

Huperzine A : in the treatment of ALZ vascular dementia

hindawi.com/journals/ecam/2...

[Hidden]

Dude my urine is green....when do I stop with new supplements?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

I take this seriously. Respect my time and efforts. Joke elsewhere.

[rescuema]

I tried Huperzine A back in 2015. I think I phased it out after not noticing a real effect but the 200mcg dosage may have been lower than necessary and my note shows that it felt like a weight lifted from my head though it may be a placebo effect and it affected my sleep negatively on consecutive use. I tried 400mcg again in 2017 along with phosphatidylserine but I didn't keep up probably because I didn't notice significant positive effects on memory and brain functions. I'm trying 400mgc again this morning by itself with my now expired bottle out of curiosity. We'll see. 😉

[Hidden in reply to rescuema]

I have read and heard that it has a very long half life and should not be used daily. I think a hit and run approach like high dose Quercitin or Spermedine.

[rescuema in reply to Hidden]

Yes you're supposed to cycle it and my old note says it accumulates in the body, but I read another more recent article that its half-life is within a day at 10-14 hours. I"ll try for a week every other day and see if I notice anything different.

[Hidden in reply to rescuema]

Hypothetically it could be interesting to do Huperzine A every other day or a couple days a week for a period and then do a hit and run with senolytics like Quercitin. Addressing two different pathways and problems intermittently.

[rescuema in reply to Hidden]

I've been using quercitin for a while now. I mainly use the Pure Quercetin powder from Microingredients and dump it on top of breakfast omelets or other food items with black pepper as it almost no taste. It helps tremendously with allergies.

[rescuema in reply to Hidden]

It definitely affected my sleep even with my long-expired capsules at 400mcg and my heart rate ticked lower. It also caused mild nausea late in the day so I may reduce my dosage tomorrow. Anyone trying Huperzine A should take it early in the morning and start at 200mcg first.

[rescuema in reply to Hidden]

Yup, I'm noticing that "weight lifting" effect again. It's interesting and calming. I'm hoping NGF is being activated along with other benefits.

[House2]

FYI. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/labs/pmc/a...

[Hidden]

Thank you. I read that and thought I posted it. I’m glad you did! Bacopa and Ginko are on my research list bc so far, both look interesting.

[rescuema]

After a week of experimenting with huperzine A, I've decided to further my personal trial. The first day of using 400 mcg had a definitely noticeable effect - insomnia combined with crazy vivid dreams that lasted another day. I've been taking the expired 200 mcg every other day and noticing continued vivid dreams and better recalls, but no feeling of "weight lifting." My fitbit shows my stress management score is better on an uptrend but my heart rate variability has been seesawing dipping on the days I took Hup A, so I'm not sure what to make of this. Need further monitoring so ordering a fresh Hup A to continue up to 3 months. So far, I don't see a downside.

[Hidden]

As a cholinesterase inhibitor it increases acetylcholine, right? Is this Neuroprotective or just beneficial for the immediate functioning of the brain?

This is from 2011. At that time at least Citicoline was thought to be Neuroprotective.

ahajournals.org/doi/pdf/10....

[rescuema in reply to Hidden]

The fact Hup A has such a clear effect on my rem cycle means it definitely has an effect on acetylcholine that regulates it. frontiersin.org/articles/10...

I like the fact that it's specific and reversible inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase even if the effect is more subtle than taking supplements such as alpha-GPC and citicoline, and in fact, may not be a bad idea to combine/alternate Hup A with citicoline.

Yes, on possible neuroprotection -

"Huperzine A, an alkaloid derived from the herbal medicine Huperzia Serrata (also known as Qian Ceng Ta), has been approved for treating AD in China, also exhibited potent inhibitory effects on AChE and provided neuroprotective effects "

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

"The biological functions of HupA have been studied both in vitro and in vivo, and its role in neuroprotection appears to be a good therapeutic candidate for Alzheimer´s disease (AD)"

researchgate.net/publicatio...

"Huperzine-A is an alkaloid with neuroprotective properties. Animal studies have demonstrated that Huperzine-A acts as protective agent countering organophosphate (OP) intoxication eventually reducing glutamate-induced cell death.15 Huperzine-A has stronger penetration in blood brain barrier, prolonged duration of acetylcholinesterase inhibitory action and greater bioavailability than other cholinesterase inhibitors (donepezil, rivastigmine, and tacrine). Huperzine-A has cognitive enhancing properties by protecting against several pathological factors inducing neurodegeneration such as beta-amyloid protein (or peptide), ischemia, hydrogen peroxide, glutamate, apoptosis and staurosporine-induced cytotoxicity. As a result, oxidative stress is reduced, expression of apoptotic proteins (Bcl-2, Bax, P53, caspase-3) gets regulated, protection of mitochondria and interference with amyloid precursor protein metabolism occurs, nerve growth factor and its receptors is up-regulated.16 Pharmacological studies have shown that Huperzine-A goes beyond inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, it can improve learning and memory deficits both in animal models and patients with AD.17 Twelve to eight week use of Huperzine-A can improve mental status as assessed through Mini Mental State Examination.18 Twelve week use of Huperzine-A significantly improved cognition, behavior, activities of daily living, and mood in AD patients."

journals.lww.com/jcma/Fullt...

[kaypeeoh]

I'm such a sucker. I'll report back when I see it doesn't cure my PD.

[Hidden in reply to kaypeeoh]

My Dad’s neurologist researched it for me and said if he weren’t already on Donepezil she would have him try it. Mildly neuro protective! (According to sound research , not me!)

Did you read that it shouldn’t be used daily or indefinitely?

No you are not a sucker! No negative self talk! 😊.