Hepatotoxicity induced by MK-677.

This paper presents a case report of a man in his early 30s who developed transaminitis (elevated liver enzymes) after taking MK-677, an oral growth hormone secretagogue, for approximately two months. MK-677 has been growing in popularity as a performance-enhancing supplement. The patient was otherwise healthy, with no other apparent causes for liver injury identified. Following discontinuation of the supplement, liver function tests gradually returned to normal levels, suggesting a causal relationship between MK-677 use and the hepatotoxic event. The authors highlight that while known side effects of MK-677 include oedema, increased appetite, and muscle pain, reports of hepatotoxicity associated with its use are rare. This case adds to the limited literature on potential adverse hepatic effects of MK-677. Key limitations include the single-patient design, lack of a liver biopsy or formal causality assessment score (e.g., RUCAM), inability to fully exclude confounders such as contaminants in the supplement, and the inherent difficulty in establishing definitive causality from a single case report.

Why this grade: A single case report in one human patient provides only limited, anecdotal evidence and cannot establish causality or generalizability.