Ray Peat on Prostaglandins

Effect of parathyroid hormone on hair loss and mast cells

"In vitro experiments with hair follicles show that parathyroid hormone ends the growth cycle. Prostaglandin D2, which is associated with hair loss, is released from mast cells, and parathyroid hormone is an activator of mast cell degranulation. Hair growth has a 24-hour cycle, and the long cycle of hair loss and renewal seems to be regulated by the genes involved in this daily cycle (Lin et al., 2009). It is possible that the daily rhythm of parathyroid hormone is responsible for progressive hair loss."

September 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The opposing dynamics between estrogen and progesterone and their biochemical interactions

"This polar opposition of estrogen and progesterone also includes the polar antagonism of cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP and to some extent an associated antagonism of various prostaglandins (it has been suggested that different populations of lysosomes are involved, but I suspect it has to do with the superoxide dismutase enzyme system and its inhibition or activation, as one of my tests for determining estrogen effect turns out to be an inverse indicator of S.O.D. activity)."

Nutrition For Women

The protective role of vitamin E for the stability of progesterone and blood pressure

"One theory about the effect of vitamin E is that it protects progesterone. A more recent discovery is that a prostaglandin (a hormone formed from fatty acids) regulates blood pressure through the kidney – vitamin E protects fatty acids."

Nutrition For Women

Lifestyle choices to slow aging and extend lifespan

"Altitude and a milk-based diet are obviously two important thermogenic factors that slow the accumulation of harmful adaptations, but there are many other modifiable factors that could extend lifespan even more. Reducing pro-inflammatory factors is important, and personal choices can make a big difference – for example, choosing easily digestible foods to reduce endotoxin; avoiding polyunsaturated fatty acids that disrupt cellular respiration and form pro-inflammatory prostaglandins; avoiding antioxidant supplements that create a reductive excess; and choosing foods that contain anti-inflammatory, thermogenic compounds, such as citrus fruits with their high flavonoid content that supports cellular respiratory functions."

November 2020 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Vicious cycle of estrogen and inflammation

"Free fatty acids promote the effects of estrogen and increase the formation of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins that activate aromatase. Since estrogen increases lipolysis and free fatty acids as well as their conversion into prostaglandins, this stress-triggered process can easily become a self-sustaining vicious cycle."

November 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Thymus atrophy: causes and restorative substances

"Factors causing thymus atrophy include cortisol and other glucocorticoid hormones, estrogen, prostaglandins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide, endotoxin, hypoglycemia, and ionizing radiation. Progesterone and thyroid hormone support thymus restoration and provide protection by counteracting all these atrophy factors. Increasing sugar in the diet can correct some of the metabolic changes of aging."

November 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

High prostaglandin levels in people with autism

"Unusually high levels of prostaglandins, isoprostanes, and leukotrienes have been found in people with autism."

May 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Aspirin and progesterone in the fight against insomnia

"Using aspirin before bedtime to inhibit prostaglandin synthesis is likely helpful for age-related insomnia. Progesterone and vitamin E act in different ways to prevent excessive stimulation by prostaglandins."

March 2018 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The role of endotoxin in activating inflammatory processes

"The endotoxin lipopolysaccharide has a generally excitatory effect, activating cellular inflammatory processes and damaging energy production – mediated by cellular products such as nitric oxide, carbon monoxide, serotonin, histamine, prostaglandins, estrogens, and various cytokines (interleukins and tumor necrosis factor, TNF). Some of these substances enter the bloodstream from the gut, others are produced elsewhere in the body, but some are produced in the brain itself when endotoxin is taken up into the brain."

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Parkinson's disease: increase in iron, nitric oxide, and prostaglandins

"In people with Parkinson's disease, elevated levels of iron, nitric oxide, and prostaglandins have been observed."

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Aging and PUFA enrichment increase prostaglandin production

"When polyunsaturated fats accumulate in our tissues with aging, the production of prostaglandins increases, and the balance is less likely to be fully restored."

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Age-related changes in the brain are amplified by estrogen

"With aging, iron and polyunsaturated fats accumulate in the brain. Estrogen slows the breakdown of dopamine, increasing the chance that it reacts toxically with iron and highly unsaturated fats, especially arachidonic acid and DHA; it also tends to increase the formation of prostaglandins and nitric oxide. The opposite effects of progesterone likely explain why Parkinson's disease is less common in women than in men."

March 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Stress buffers: Substances that help keep metabolism stable

"Several of these substances inhibit the release of free fatty acids and the formation of prostaglandins, reduce nitric oxide, lactate production, inflammation, excitation, and cholinergic tone. What they all have in common is supporting a shift away from a highly reduced state toward an oxidized, energized balance."

March 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Reductive stress triggers restorative cellular processes

"Reductive stress activates multiple levels of restorative processes (as alternatives to the protective functions of carbon dioxide) to stimulate respiration, increase blood flow, and provide energy and material for the renewal of cellular structures. Prostaglandins, cytokines, estrogen, and nitric oxide are produced in a coordinated manner, and cell behavior is defensively altered. The structures of the cytoskeleton are modified as reductive chemistry converts protein disulfides to sulfhydryls, changing shapes and—most importantly—the solvent properties of the cell material."

July 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Enzymatic destruction of active hormones

"The active thyroid hormone T3 is locally broken down by a specific deiodinase, prostaglandins are formed by cyclooxygenase, estrogen by aromatase, and nitric oxide by the corresponding synthase. These enzymes are activated by chemical reduction of their disulfide groups, converting them into thiols."

July 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Aging increases fatty acids in the brain

"When the proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids increases with aging, some arachidonic acid is incorporated into the brain. Especially at night, the highly unsaturated fatty acids enhance excitatory processes, including the formation of prostaglandins and other inflammation-promoting compounds."

January 2017 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Interconnected biochemical reactions

“Estrogen, nitric oxide, prostaglandins, and parasympathetic nerve activity often occur simultaneously, and it happens that a substance that inhibits one of these often also inhibits the others.”

January 2016 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

The fundamental role of steroid hormones in animal physiology

“Steroid hormones are involved in all aspects of animal physiology and overlap with regulatory functions of the nervous system, peptide hormones, metabolites, prostaglandins, cyclic nucleotides, etc.”

Generative Energy Restoring The Wholeness Of Life

Connection between injury potential and inflammation

“Injury potential and inflammation are closely linked; for example, I found that sunburned skin or skin irritated by applying a prostaglandin showed a negative polarity compared to normal adjacent skin.”

Ray Peat's Newsletter

Prostaglandins in cancer and the therapeutic potential of aspirin

“Prostaglandins have been found in prostate fluid, where they occur in significant concentrations. They are so deeply involved in the development of all types of cancer that aspirin and other prostaglandin inhibitors should be considered a fundamental part of cancer therapy.”

May 1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Interactions between free fatty acids and estrogen in metabolism

“Estrogens lead to an increase in free fatty acids, and there are many interactions between unsaturated fatty acids and estrogen, including their metabolism to prostaglandins and their peroxidation.”

May 1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Estrogen effects beyond receptors in the cancer development process

“Many of the most important effects of estrogen do not involve the receptors. A direct excitatory effect on prostate cells as well as indirect effects through the pituitary, pancreas, thyroid, adrenals, fatty acids, prostaglandins, histamine, and circulation are likely essential components of the cancer development process.”

May 1998 – Ray Peat's Newsletter

Caffeine's positive effects on the thyroid and inflammation

“I think some of the positive effects of caffeine are based on its stimulation of the thyroid and normal respiration. While it stimulates normal respiration, it acts as an anti-inflammatory, which probably includes both the regulation of prostaglandins and an antioxidant effect. Chemically, it is very similar to our natural antioxidant uric acid, and it raises uric acid levels in the blood.”

May 1990 – Ray Peat's Newsletter
Back to the blog

Supplements according to Ray Peat

1 4