Great post, I'm trying to figure out this IGF-1 stuff too. Some of the points are debatable though..
I'm gonna play devil's advocate here because part of me wants to believe that we can induce hyperplasia using IGF, and part of me believes that scientifically it is impossible.
Regarding IGF-2...I believe that I've read that there are few IGF2 receptors in adults, and that they are found almost exclusively in the intestines. Now, I realize that this IGF-2 LR3 probably has a higher binding affinity for the IGF-1 receptor than IGF-1 LR3 itself, but given the fact that it can so easily grow the intestines and not much else, I don't see it as a viable option.
I agree with what you said about PEG-MGF. I have read about it's affinity for the IGF-1 receptor but I don't think it is necessarily a better option than IGF1LR3 for hyperplasia. Since it is injected into the interstitial fluid surrounding muscle cells, it will simply act like IGF-1 (not LR3) and bind to IGF-1 receptors on the cells. Unfortunately since it doesn't make it inside the cells themselves, it cannot start the MGF cell proliferation process. Why? Because there is no MGF receptor. MGF can only work when produced inside the muscle cell itself (since it cannot enter the muscle cell and can only bind to the extracellular IGF receptor). There have been studies on rats I think where the gene encoding for MGF was inserted into a bacterial vector and then injected, which led the cell to encode for the protein and use it.
Assuming that somehow the MGF does work via straight up IM injection, I do agree that injecting after a workout is a good idea. However, I'm not convinced that immediately after is a good idea, I'm thinking maybe a few hours after. Why? For one, immediately PWO there is a great deal of blood flow to the muscle being injected. So injecting at this time would cause the molecule to enter systemic circulation quickly. I would rather do it when blood flow is less so that it can have more time to act on the muscle cells. I would guess a couple of hours after would be better. The thing about PEG-MGF again, is that it is free to bind to intestinal IGF receptors.
Injecting IGF-1 after a workout may be counterproductive. After a workout your body will be naturally splicing IGF-1 to form MGF, which signals satellite cell proliferation. By injecting IGF, you actually halt this proliferation process and start cell differentiation prematurely. This of course gives even more reason to inject PEG-MGF immediately PWO because it will presumably work synergistically with your endogenous process (assuming you don't buy into the whole paracrine vs autocrine signaling thing). A better option for rIGF-1 for DES-IGF-1 would be to shoot IM a day or so before the workout..that way the cells would have time to differentiate before proliferating via MGF.
So in summary....the whole IGF and MGF theory makes sense and is exciting until you consider the fact that we are simply injecting the peptides into an area outside of muscle cells. I don't think the activation of extracellular IGF receptors can lead to a mechanism that induces hyperplasia. Sure, we can enhance nutrient uptake in this manner and can accelerate hypertrophy when used in this manner, but I hate to admit to myself that the fun ends there..at least that's my opinion
But now I'm more interested in the anabolic effects of these compounds (not hyperplasia). People get nice pumps from igf-1lr3 which can increase hypertrophy, but I assume that this is due to a combination of weak IGF-1 receptor and insulin receptor activation. Since the unaltered version (70aa) of IGF-1 binds much more strongly to its own receptor than insulin (0.1x the potency), it could be used to get maybe better pumps or a more anabolic stimulus. Now imagine this DES version that you speak of...with 10x the potency of IGF-1, that could lead to some serious pumps and/or gains. It could be great for PCT, not to mention on or off cycle
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