Recent research has looked into NO as a possible method to induce myogenesis, and so far, the data is promising: nitrates may indeed be directly myogenic and aid in the muscle building process. Vasodilation via NO may increase MPS and mTOR activity in muscle cells [10, 11], and NO appears to play a direct role in the formation of new muscle cells [12-14]. This is fairly novel, because muscle typically grows via hypertrophy and myonuclear accretion from nearby satellite cells, and nitrates act directly on this pool of precursor satellite cells.
10. Lee, J. (2010). Effect of vasodilation on the response of muscle protein synthesis to insulin in aging. J Clin Endocrinol Metab.
11. Timmerman KL, et al. (2010). Insulin stimulates human skeletal muscle protein synthesis via an indirect mechanism involving endothelial-dependent vasodilation and mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 signaling. J Clin Endocrinol Metab.
12. Smith, L. W., J. D. Smith, and D. S. Criswell. "Involvement of Nitric Oxide Synthase in Skeletal Muscle Adaptation to Chronic Overload." Journal of Applied Physiology 92.5 (1985): 2005-011. Web.
13. Buono, Roberta, Chiara Vantaggiato, Viviana Pisa, Emanuele Azzoni, Maria Teresa Bassi, Silvia Brunelli, Clara Sciorati, and Emilio Clementi. "Nitric Oxide Sustains Long-Term Skeletal Muscle Regeneration by Regulating Fate of Satellite Cells Via Signaling Pathways Requiring Vangl2 and Cyclic GMP." Stem Cells 30.2 (2012): 197-209. Web.
14. Palma, Clara, and Emilio Clementi. "Nitric Oxide in Myogenesis and Therapeutic Muscle Repair." Molecular Neurobiology 46.3 (2012): 682-92. Web.
