Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2022

Publication Title

Experimental Physiology

Abstract

LGD-4033, a selective androgen receptor modulator, and MK-677, a growth hormone secretagogue, are being used increasingly amongst recreationally active demographics. However, limited data exist describing their effects on health- and androgen-related biomarkers. The purpose of this case study was to determine changes in body composition and biomarkers during and after continued co-administration of LGD-4033 and MK-677. We also aimed to examine muscular strength and intramuscular androgen-associated biomarkers relative to non-users. A 25-year-old male ingested LGD-4033 (10 mg) and MK-677 (15 mg) daily for 5 weeks. Blood and body composition metrics were obtained pre-, on- and post-cycle. One-repetition maximum leg and bench press, in addition to intramuscular androgens and androgen receptor content, were analysed on-cycle. We observed pre- to on-cycle changes in body composition (body mass, +6.0%; total lean body mass, +3.1%; trunk lean body mass, +6.6%; appendicular lean body mass, +4.3%; total fat mass, +15.4%; trunk fat mass, +2.8%; and appendicular fat mass, +14.8%), bone (bone mineral content, −3.60%; area, −1.1%; and bone mineral density, −2.1%), serum lipid-associated biomarkers (cholesterol, +14.8%; triglycerides, +39.2%; low-density lipoprotein–cholesterol, +40.0%; and high-density lipoprotein–cholesterol, −36.4%), liver-associated biomarkers (aspartate aminotransferase, +95.8%; and alanine aminotransferase, +205.0%) and androgen-associated biomarkers (free testosterone, −85.7%; total testosterone, −62.3%; and sex hormone-binding globulin, −79.6%); however, all variables returned to pre-cycle values post-cycle, apart from total fat mass, appendicular fat mass, bone area, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein–cholesterol. Follicle-stimulating hormone was below clinical reference values on- (1.2 IU/L) and post-cycle (1.3 IU/L). Intramuscular androgen receptor (−44.6%), testosterone (+47.8%) and dihydrotestosterone (+34.4%), in addition to one-repetition maximum leg press and bench press (+39.2 and +32.0%, respectively), were different in the case subject compared with non-users. These data demonstrate that LGD-4033 and MK-677 increase several body composition parameters, whilst negatively impacting bone and several serum biomarkers. Given the sparsity of data in recreationally using demographics, further research is warranted to elucidate the acute and chronic physiological effects of these anabolic agents.

Comments

Published in Experimental Physiology by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Physiological Society. Available via doi: 10.1113/EP090741.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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