Agmatine: a decarboxylated "buffed up" supplement version of the amino L-Arginine, which crosses the blood brain barrier and behaves like a neurotransmitter at several sites.
It's been touted to potentially aid with mood, depression & anxiety, pain & inflammation as well as tolerance to pain killers, drug addiction, defence against excitotoxicity, protection against stroke, possible anti-hypertensive, performance boosting and vasodilation.
What I would like to clear up, is how much of this has been verified with studies and what underlying mechanisms have been confirmed?
If one of the known mechanisms is NMDA antagonism, how strong is it really - in comparison to say Memantine or the granddaddy of antagonists Ketamine? My guess is closer to Magnesium?
Concerning it's possible imidazoline receptor activity, has it been proven to be an agonist, or is it an inverse agonist or what? I've seen mixed studies.
Should one be taking it long term if they have some hypertension? Proof of it's anti-hypertensive effects again seems unclear with conflicting literature on the net.
Given that it often takes the "edge off" whatever stimulant type medication I've coupled it with seems to be in line with some of it's characteristics, particularly as an NMDA antagonist and possible beta-endorphin release. But what about being claimed a modulator of norepinephrine release, does this mean it releases NE? Wouldn't this exacerbate anxiety for some?
With so many mixed actions, it's a little daunting to decide if this has a permanent place in one's stack, but on the other hand it feels as though it compliments a lot of other supplements/medications nicely. It would be awesome to have someone with a greater understanding or experience with Agmatine to share any knowledge or collate and translate some of the scientific studies into layman's terms.
Good summary on examine.com: https://examine.com/...ments/agmatine/
Edited by pinnacle, 31 May 2016 - 11:03 PM.