Lactoferrin -- "an anabolic bone growth factor"

Quick Disclaimer: first post on any forum like this so excuse the autism, also im not a bone growth expert by any means this is just something I found quite interesting and have been looking into that I want to share

What is it?

Lactoferrin is a protein that has been shown to be anabolic for bone growth(no it's not gonna make u 6'2 u short fuck). The protein itself is a "multifunctional, iron-binding glycoprotein" whatever the fuck that means(thanks gemini).

Info

Basicly, lactoferrin has been shown to stimulate osteoblasts(good), while also inhibiting osteoclastogenesis(fancy term for bone reabsorption)

Through the research I've done, it seems this protein could be responsible for a big part of bone development for babies(lactoferrin is found in breast milk, raw milk, etc).

Why the fuck does any of this matter to us?

You may be saying, well this can't be THAT effective. oh boy are you wrong

The images compare subjects that did not receive lactoferrin vs ones that did. Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you, it made quite a significant difference. This happened within 4-12 weeks(its rats so for humans it will take longer + much larger dose). >>You can find the full study here<<

IGF-1

Now, there is also another very interesting thing lactoferrin does, lactoferrin also up regulates IGF-1 locally in bones. >>more<<

"Furthermore, LF treatment improved bone metabolism and increased insulin-like growth factor 1 (Igf1)"

"Overall, the research on Lf has shown its potential in various aspects of bone remodeling, signaling, fracture healing, peptide synthesis, and Lf delivery to bones. Further research in this area may lead to the development of new treatments for bone-related disorders."

>>here<<

Meta-analysis + studies + resources:

A meta-analysis " lactoferrin stimulates the proliferation of bone forming cells, osteoblasts, and cartilage cells at physiological concentrations (above 0.1 microg/ml). The magnitude of this effect exceeds that observed in response to other skeletal growth factors such as IGF-1 and TGFbeta. " + Taken together, these data demonstrate that the naturally-occurring glycoprotein lactoferrin is anabolic to bone in vivo, an effect which is consequent upon its potent proliferative and anti-apoptotic actions in osteoblasts, and its ability to inhibit osteoclastogenesis. "

>>Study showing the cells from earlier<<

>>local igf-1 signalling<<

Another study

Another study

>>here<<

many more that im too lazy too include(maybe ill make an edit when I have more time)

How significant really are the effects:

Unfortunately I can't give you an exact answer on this, the main studies I refer to in this are done on rats, so I'm not going to bullshit u and say its gonna make u taller lol(idk it might). One thing I did find extremely interesting in the meta-analysis is this line "The magnitude of this effect exceeds that observed in response to other skeletal growth factors such as IGF-1 and TGFbeta". Note that this DOES NOT mean this is more effective than HGH, IGF-1 etc, fucking obviously lmfao.

If you guys have any ways I could potentially measure the effects on myself that would be great(I am currently supplementing lactoferrin orally).

I also do want to make a note, in studies there have been reports of up to 400% "growth of bones" in animals, this does not directly translate to humans obviously (stop dreaming).

Dose/Use:

For the dose, you need to convert the dose used in the studies for rats to humans. The result is around 800mg-4.4g. The sweet spot as far as I can tell is 1-2g(for price and effect).

What am I doing?

I am currently on a dose of 1500 mg/1.5g per day, 500mg capsules 3 capsules a day. Also note when finding a supplier make sure it is actually a good supplier since unfortunately most of the well known and tested supplement companies either do not sell lactoferrin or are way underdosed(300mg for example). Btw if u can find a good supplier that sells pills that are like 1g+ hmu lol .

Effects on growth plates(if their still open):

some retard the other day said some shit abt how "oHh buT it hAA-aSss a e-E-eestroGEnic effect on -G-G-g-roWth platEss" shut the fuck up.

It upregulates local IGF-1 not endocrine IGF-1, local IGF-1 is actually protective of the growth plates. So no, it will not close your growth plates early, if anything because of the local IGF-1 up regulation it would actually be protective of your growth plates