Increasing Height with Acteoside and Harpagoside?

The herbalist Alkoclar has a new height increasing formula that's come out involving Acteoside and Harpagoside(Arth Aid - All Natural Relief for Arthritis - 100 Capsules).  Alkoclar was the one behind the Methyl Protodioscin and Desmethyl Icariin combo.  It's unlikely that any chemical method on it's own is likely to increase height as chemicals in general have not been found to be as effective at inducing chondrogenic differentiation with the exception of TGF Beta.  Osteoblasts are not as effective at increasing height likely due to the OPG/RANKL gradient not encouraging bone deposition on the longitudinal ends of bones.  Still herbal remedies like Acteoside and Harpagoside can act as supplements to a height increase regime.  They are also both anti-oxidants which are good for height growth although some free radicals are needed for certain chemical reactions.

How can Acteoside and Harpagoside(also known as Devil's Claw) help with increasing Height?


[Effect of a Harpagophytum procumbens DC extract on matrix metalloproteinases in human chondrocytes in vitro].

"interleukin 1beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) [are inflammatory cytokines]. The increased release of cytokines leads to an enhanced production of matrix-degrading enzymes (MMPs). Direct antirheumatic effects of an extract of the secondary root of the African devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens DC) on the production of MMPs in IL-1beta-stimulated human chondrocytes were examined.  Extracts of Harpagophytum decreased significantly production of MMPs (MMP-1, MMP-3, MMP-9) in chondrocytes{remember though that an MMP-9 deficiency causes reduced height, MMP-3 also plays an important role in vascularizing the growth plate}. The IL-1beta-induced production of MMPs was significantly reduced by both a JM-extract (Jucurba) containing 210 mg dry extract and JF-extract (Jucurba forte) containing 480 mg dry extract.  The effect of JF-extract on the MMP-synthesis was more pronounced in untreated and cytokine-stimulated chondrocytes when compared with the effect of the JM-extract. The JF-extract showed a higher efficacy than the JM-extract."

Just look there's good and bad cholesterol there may be good and bad MMPs.  Devil's Claw seems to reduce the production of the good MMPs.

I couldn't get this full study.

Harpagoside does reduce COX-2 and COX-2 is bad for height growth(it's bad for height growth by way of MMP-13)  To grow taller we want to block MMP-13 expression and enhance MMP-3(LSJL upregulates MMP-3) and MMP-9 expression.

Harpagoside suppresses lipopolysaccharide-induced iNOS and COX-2 expression through inhibition of NF-kappa B activation.

"Preparations of Harpagophytum procumbens [is] known as devil's claw. Pharmacological evaluations have proven tthis herbal drug as an anti-inflammatory and analgesic agent. [We investigate] the mechanism of action of harpagoside, one of the major components of Harpagophytum procumbens, using human HepG2 hepatocarcinoma and RAW 264.7 macrophage cell lines. Harpagoside inhibited lipopolysaccharide-induced mRNA levels and protein expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide in HepG2 cells. These inhibitions appeared to correlate with the suppression of NF-kappaB activation by harpagoside, as pre-treating cells with harpagoside blocked the translocation of NF-kappaB into the nuclear compartments and degradation of the inhibitory subunit IkappaB-alpha. Harpagoside dose-dependently inhibited LPS-stimulated NF-kappaB promoter activity[NF-kappaB can encourage chondrogenic differentiation however] in a gene reporter assay in RAW 264.7 cells, indicating that harpagoside interfered with the activation of gene transcription. Inhibition of the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide by harpagoside involves suppression of NF-kappaB activation."

But I don't think Harpagoside can help increase height as COX-2 and MMP-13 may actually benefit height increase.  Although LPS likely takes inflammatory molecules above equilibrium levels and COX-2 and MMP-13 are likely biphasic with an equilibrium level being most beneficial for height increase.

"Treatment of RAW 264.7 cells with LPS (100 ng/ml) for 24 h significantly increased the release of NO (37 ± 3 μM) by approximately 12-fold compared to that of the untreated cells (3 ± 2 μM)"<-So NO levels were likely well above equilibrium.

"translocation of IκB-α from the cytosol to the nucleus following LPS treatment was blocked by harpagoside."

Acteoside also inhibits MMP-9:

Acteoside inhibits PMA-induced matrix metalloproteinase-9 expression via CaMK/ERK- and JNK/NF-κB-dependent signaling.

"Acteoside [is] an active phenylethanoid glycoside found in bitter tea and many medicinal plants. [We] determine the effect of acteoside on tumor invasion and migration; the possible mechanisms involved in this inhibition were investigated in human fibrosarcoma HT-1080 cells. We employed invasion, migration and gelatin zymography assays to characterize the effect of acteoside on HT-1080 cells.  Acteoside suppresses phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)-enhanced matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression at the protein, mRNA, and transcriptional levels through the suppression of NF-κB activation. Acteoside repressed the PMA-induced phosphorylation of ERK1/2 (ERK, extracellular regulated kinase) and JNK1/2. Acteoside decreased the PMA-induced influx of Ca(2+) and repressed PMA-induced calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK) phosphorylation. Treatment with BAPTA/AM, W7, or capsazepine markedly decreased PMA-induced MMP-9 secretion and cell migration, as well as ERK and JNK/NF-κB activation.  Acteoside inhibited PMA-induced invasion and migration of human fibrosarcoma cells via Ca(2+)-dependent CaMK/ERK and JNK/NF-κB-signaling pathways."

Acteoside also inhibited MMP-2.

"MMP-9 can be stimulated by inflammatory cytokines, epidermal growth factor, or phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA)"

"calcium (Ca2+) regulates the expression and activation of MMPs, with particular involvement in the control of MMP-12 activity. Increased extracellular Ca2+ levels induce MMP-9 expression in human keratinocytes, inhibiting the influx of Ca2+ and decreasing the mRNA expression of MMP-2. Furthermore, the modulation of intracellular Ca2+ levels can alter the secretion of MMP-1 from migrating keratinocytes"

"TRP vanilloid-type 1 (TRPV1) is one of the several nonselective cationic channels, the activation of which induces Ca2+ influx; however, this influx can be inhibited by a specific antagonist, capsazepine (CPZ). Antagonists of cannabinoid receptors 1 and 2 either alone or in combination with CPZ significantly suppress both cannabidiol-induced tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 expression and the activation of MAPK p38 and extracellular regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2)"

"TRPV1 can be phosphorylated by PKA, PKC, and Ca2+/calmodulin (CaM)-dependent kinase II (CaMKII)"

Acteoside may increase extracellular Ca2+ thereby inhibiting the influx of Ca2+ into the cell.  This is good if the levels of Ca2+ are too high but may inhibit anabolic effects if the Ca2+ are within physiological levels.

So at this time I don't believe either acteoside nor harpagoside has height increase potential as MMP-9 deficiency results in stunted growth.

Of course, if you inhibit Extracellular Matrix degradation in the cartilage you will get taller in your joints.  The height will go away if you stop taking it though.  In that case, you should just take Hyaluronic Acid which more clearly benefits the ECM.