Oral growth hormone enhancer MK-677 (ibutamoren)

[PAUL-E]

Paul-E

How is your appetite? Have you gained weight? How are you sleeping?

They are not my results My IGF-1 is already high on TRT 374 115-307. but I can answer for the test subject
no noticeable appetite change
gained some LBM lost some fat
improved sleep less waking moving at night
add
improved skin/hair
improved libido
improved mood
reduced soreness

 

[MikeXL]

It is but UG labs sell it

 

[MikeXL]

what kind of results have you had. how are they able to prescribe it. It is still in research

 

[Loki]

Could not find it on the site... What is the cost per month (from Empower)?

 

[MikeXL]

So is yours sublingual or injectable ?

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Thanks Mistletoeme

Where are you getting it from?

Empower's price (with a prescription) is about $120 for 30 capsules of 25 mg each.

I got really hungry the first 3 weeks and then my appetite stabilized. My mental focus was also great. I had hand surgery on week 3 and healed faster than I usually do. My CD4 immune cells went up by almost 75% (they have not done so in 4 years). I gained 6 pounds in a month (good for me) and I have kept it even though I had to take a 3 week break from the gym due to my hand surgery. My IBS related bloating is also much better. Is this all coincidence? Placebo effect? I don't know but I am trying to get physicians to do a study.

This is a drug that was abandoned by Merck. They tried to develop for these;

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00474279

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/enhanced/doi/10.1359/jbmr.1999.14.7.1182

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9329386

I think Merck expected even better results in lean (fat free) mass than the ones reported. They were trying to get the drug approved for age related sarcopenia.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Healthy elderly persons who received the ghrelin mimetic MK-677 experienced a sustained increase in the amplitude of pulsatile growth hormone secretion and IGF-I levels to those seen in young adults. The likely mechanism was activation of the ghrelin receptor by MK-677, with feedback by IGF-I preventing excess growth hormone production. MK-677 increased fat-free mass by 1.6 kg relative to placebo. To provide perspective, an adult's average lifetime loss of fat-free mass is about 5.5 kg (3). The concomitant increase in intracellular water, which reflects body cell mass (25), was probably the mechanism for the increase in fat-free mass.


Ghrelin stimulates growth hormone secretion, but it also has effects that are not attributable to increased growth hormone levels. A ghrelin mimetic transiently increases appetite, a novel effect that might counteract physiologic anorexia, a cause of weight loss in elderly persons (26–27). Unlike growth hormone, which is lipolytic, ghrelin increases fat stores. We found that body weight increased more in MK-677 recipients than in placebo recipients. Although total fat mass increased in both groups, limb fat and limb lean mass increased more in participants receiving MK-677 than in those receiving placebo. Surprisingly, thigh muscle cross-sectional area did not increase, although our study was not powered to detect small but potentially important differences because the single-slice computed tomography method that we used was insufficiently precise. Growth hormone reduces abdominal visceral fat in growth hormone deficient adults (28) and abdominally obese, postmenopausal women (29) but not in normal elderly participants (30). Although MK-677 increased growth hormone levels, it did not affect abdominal visceral fat, possibly because its combined orexigenic and adipogenic effects counteracted the lipolytic effects of enhanced growth hormone. Finally, although MK-677 did not reduce abdominal visceral fat, it did reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels at 12 months, an effect not seen with growth hormone in normal elderly participants (8).


Strength, function, and quality of life did not improve after administration of MK-677 in our small, healthy cohort result we should possibly have expected. Although strength improved in elderly patients with hypopituitarism after daily injections of growth hormone for 2 to 3 years (31), growth hormone alone does not increase strength in healthy elderly persons (8, 32–33). Strength improved only in healthy older men receiving growth hormone plus testosterone for 26 weeks (33). Finally, the relationship between strength and physical performance is nonlinear (34); we speculate that increased physical capacity might substantially improve performance in frail adults but not healthy adults.


Sarcopenia is a hallmark of frailty (35–36) and is associated with increased mortality in elderly persons (37–40). In our healthy sample, MK-677 counteracted 3 important factors that contribute to sarcopenia: reduced secretion of growth hormone, loss of fat-free mass, and inadequate food intake. We did not study patients with sarcopenia, and their response to a ghrelin mimetic is not known.


Of note, our participants tolerated daily administration of MK-677 for the 2-year study period. The most frequent side effects were mild, transient, lower-extremity edema; transient muscle pain; and increased appetite, which subsided in a few months. These effects of physiologically stimulated growth hormone secretion contrast with those of growth hormone administered by injection: edema, arthralgia, carpal tunnel syndrome, gynecomastia, and new-onset impaired fasting glucose and diabetes mellitus in some persons (8).


Both growth hormone and MK-677 increase insulin resistance and blood glucose in elderly persons (22, 33,41–42). We found statistically significant but small increases in fasting blood glucose and HbA1c levels at 12 months. Considering the results of short-term studies with MK-677 (9, 43), which found no statistically significant increase in serum cortisol, the small increase in serum cortisol that we found is unlikely to underlie the increase in fasting glucose level. In patients treated with growth hormone, bone mineral density initially decreases (44); at least 18 months of treatment is needed to demonstrate an increase in bone mineral density (45). Femoral neck bone mineral density decreased at 12 months in MK-677 recipients, which is consistent with the increased bone remodeling that occurs with growth hormone (44). Fracture risk is the best measure of the effects of MK-677 on bone; however, this outcome would require studies of large samples over many years.


Our study has limitations. Its duration was relatively short, and the sample was small. Combining the results for men and women may have missed important sex effects. As a small, randomized study in healthy older adults, ours was a proof-of-concept study. It showed, apparently for the first time, that a drug can maintain the IGF-I levels and physiologic pattern of growth hormone secretion seen in young adults for at least 1 year and partially reverse age-related body composition changes.


Frailty is one of the scourges of elderly persons, and as researchers are beginning to learn about its causes, they are asking whether growth hormone deficiency is one of them. A systematic review (8) concluded that the risks of exogenous growth hormone outweigh the benefits and that it is not the long-sought solution to frailty. The promise of MK-677 is that it seems to restore endogenous growth hormone levels in a physiologic secretory pattern, unlike the single high-amplitude pulse observed after exogenous growth hormone administration. We believe that our study sets the stage for an adequately powered clinical trial of sufficient duration in a population vulnerable to frailty.
http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=743451

 

[Nelson Vergel]

Despite evidence of target engagement as indicated by an increase in serum insulin-like growth factor-1, the human growth hormone secretagogue MK-677 25 mg was ineffective at slowing the rate of progression of Alzheimer disease.
https://www.researchgate.net/public...ffect_on_AD_progression_in_a_randomized_trial

 

[Nelson Vergel]

IGF-1

Graphs from a study done in older men who were not exercising.

Fat Free and Fat Mass increased with MK 677, while Fat Free Mass decreased with placebo.

IGF-1 remained elevated even after 12 month of daily 25 mg administration.

Spine and hip bone density improved.


Source: Effects of an Oral Ghrelin Mimetic on Body Composition and Clinical Outcomes in Healthy Older Adults: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

I think resistance exercise would probably improve fat free mass even more with less increase in fat mass.

 

[Nelson Vergel]

For immune function. Growth hormone has been shown to have some benefits in HIV. Is that why MK- 677 (ibutamoren) increased my CD4 cells? Is increased IGF-1 stimulatory to the thymus gland?

Treatment with recombinant growth hormone is associated with modest improvement in CD4 lymphocyte reconstitution in HIV-infected persons on antiretroviral therapy: results of ACTG A5174.


Growth hormone enhances thymic function in HIV-1–infected adults

 

[ERO]

It is encouraging to see this as a prescription now - I say that because it is so hard to tell what one gets from the research companies. One would assume that the prescription would be the 'real' stuff.

Nelson, your results on this are impressive! Makes me want to give it a go.

 

[Dr Justin Saya MD]

The concomitant increase in intracellular water, which reflects body cell mass was probably the mechanism for the increase in fat-free mass.


Unlike growth hormone, which is lipolytic, ghrelin increases fat stores. We found that body weight increased more in MK-677 recipients than in placebo recipients. Although total fat mass increased in both groups, limb fat and limb lean mass increased more in participants receiving MK-677 than in those receiving placebo.

http://annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=743451

Sounds like they are attributing the gain in fat-free mass to simply an increase in intracellular water (i.e. water retention).

They also note increase in total fat mass (both groups), but with a larger increase in limb fat (and limb lean mass - which they attributed to intracellular water above) to the MK-677. The NET result there sounds sounds like simply an increase in fat mass.

 

[PAUL-E]

Sounds like they are attributing the gain in fat-free mass to simply an increase in intracellular water (i.e. water retention).

They also note increase in total fat mass (both groups), but with a larger increase in limb fat (and limb lean mass - which they attributed to intracellular water above) to the MK-677. The NET result there sounds sounds like simply an increase in fat mass.

not to get off subject but IGF-1 promotes growth doesn't necessarily say what kind correct?
example: if you are not active most likely fat mass and if you weight train most likely muscle?

 

[Mistletoeme]

So is yours sublingual or injectable ?

Mine are caps, taking one 10 mg. cap with glass of water before bed.

 

[Mistletoeme]

Mine is Blackstone Labs Ultra. It's about $55.00 for 60 caps/ 10 mg. ea., so that will last me 2 months.

 

[Palermitano]

Im very interested in MK-677 but seem to read conflicting information, Im hoping someone here can share some wisdom from personal experience.

I have read that it must be cycled after 60 days, then I have read it should be taken for 6 months to a year. Which is it?

Are there any reported liver issues?

I see it online in a liquid form for $159 per month, then I also see it in capsule form from what is "supposed" to be a reputable distributor for $89 per month, and on EBay for even less. If this stuff is real, why isn't everyone all over it? I plan to start with 10mg per day and go from there.

Can someone please shed some light and recommend a reputable site to buy from?

Thank you as always in advance.

 

[Mistletoeme]

I have not ready anywhere that it has a bad affect on the liver. My goal was to take 10 mg for 6 months, but quit after a week. (couldn't fight the hunger) I felt like I could eat forever and never got full.

 

[Abraham Sarary]

Hey guys first post. I have ordered a bottle of 60 caps from Panther sports nutrition. Should arrive couple of days will keep yous posted. Gonna hook 25ml/day for 8 weeks.

 

[MikeXL]

Would there be any concerns with this product if you had prostate issues?

 

[Druvicious]

Cjc

I get mine by prescription from ...


This is how the prescription is written:

Ibutamoren Mesylate 25mg, 1 qd, count of 30, # 3 refills

One capsule before bedtime.

Nelson, have you considered cjc-1295 mpa at all?