IGF…..anti-inflamatory!

[Mr.X]

by: Anthony Roberts
-taken from anthony's blog

I have used IGF to help heal an injury pretty successfully…but it was all soft tissue stuff, and I assumed it accelerated the healing process, since it did so in studies.

Anyway, I took a bad hit playing rugby this weekend in my shoulder(s), so I popped 100mcg of IGF into each of them. From not being able to lift my arm the day before, I was fine the next day, without anti-inflamatories. What the hell?

I know IGF will heal you…but feeling alright within a day? That seems more like what happens when you take an anti-inflamatory, right? Like aspirin, etc…

SO I went to the medical journals….

And it turns out that IGF-I acts as an anti-inflamatory! (So you can take a shot to help heal and help pain after an injury! Just like Aspirin!)…and since those drugs often have an ant-anabolic effect…well…i can tell you that I’d rather take a shot of IGF and be healed in a day or two than aspirin or whatever for a week.

Am J Sports Med. 1999 May-Jun;27(3):363-9.
Insulin-like growth factor I accelerates functional recovery from Achilles tendon injury in a rat model.

* Kurtz CA,
* Loebig TG,
* Anderson DD,
* DeMeo PJ,
* Campbell PG.

Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Allegheny General Hospital, Allegheny University of the Health Sciences, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

We studied the effects of insulin-like growth factor I on Achilles tendon healing in a rat model. Rats were randomized into groups of six each: sham surgery, transection alone, and transection plus growth factor. Postoperatively, rats treated with growth factor had a significantly smaller maximum functional deficit and a decreased time to functional recovery than rats in the untreated groups. Biomechanical testing revealed no significant differences in the measured parameters between the treated and the untreated groups after transection. To study the mechanism of action, six additional animals received an Achilles tendon injection of the inflammatory agent carrageenan alone and six received carrageenan plus growth factor. Rats treated with growth factor did not show the inflammation-induced functional deficit experienced by the control rats. Spectrometric myeloperoxidase assays on the remaining eight rats after Achilles tendon transection demonstrated no significant difference between the untreated and the growth factor-treated groups, indicating a mechanism other than neutrophil recruitment by which the growth factor limits inflammation. Histologic studies were performed on carrageenan-injected rats at postinjection day 2 and on surgically treated rats at postoperative day 15. No gross histologic differences were seen between untreated and growth factor-treated groups. This study demonstrated that via a possible antiinflammatory mechanism, insulin-like growth factor I reduces maximum functional deficit and accelerates recovery after Achilles tendon injury.

FEBS Lett. 1994 Feb 28;340(1-2):51-5.
Insulin-like growth factors counteract the effect of interleukin 1 beta on type II phospholipase A2 expression and arachidonic acid release by rabbit articular chondrocytes.

* Berenbaum F,
* Thomas G,
* Poiraudeau S,
* Bereziat G,
* Corvol MT,
* Masliah J.

URA CNRS 1283, Faculte de Medecine Saint Antoine, Paris, France.

Interleukin 1 beta was found to stimulate arachidonic acid release, and the synthesis and secretion of type II phospholipase A2 by rabbit articular chondrocytes in vitro. Interleukin 1 beta had no effect on the level of cytosolic phospholipase A2 mRNA. Insulin-like growth factors, which help stabilize the cartilage matrix, reduced the effect of interleukin 1 beta on type II phospholipase A2 activity and mRNA level, and decreased the Interleukin 1 beta-stimulated arachidonic acid release to the basal values. This suggests that type II phospholipase A2 plays a key role in arachidonic acid release from rabbit articular chondrocytes and that insulin-like growth factors counteract the effect of interleukin 1 beta. They may therefore be considered as potential antiinflammatory agents.

[anthony roberts]

I started thinking about this when you (Mr.X) told me how quickly it healed your MMA injuries...I know/knew it couldn't "heal" you within a day...so something else must have been at work...

So I tried it right after I hurt my shoulders, and they felt better within a day....then I found the research showing that you/I was right...

But even if couldn't find the research, I knew how I felt!

[Avid Learner]

Originally Posted by anthony roberts

then I found the research showing that you/I was right...
[/i]

looks like X is anthony's alter.

[Penelope Potter]

I was interested in the thread where IGF was used for inflamation in both shoulders that were hurt while playing Rugby. Very active until a few weeks ago- DRAMATIC inflammation right after finishing a regimen of steroids due to acute Bronchitis. Certified Massage Therapist, lift weights, do ballroom dancing 10 hours a week, faux painting, etc. Suddenly have trouble moving- hands, wrists, ankles, knees, feet, shoulders, throat swollen and painful. Think that IGF could reverse this bad reaction. Need help. risingphoenixgemini@gmail.com