The insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins in a case of non-islet-cell tumour-associated hypoglycaemia

1991 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 303-311 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. Cotterill ◽  
J. M. P. Holly ◽  
S. C. Davies ◽  
V. J. Coulson ◽  
P. A. Price ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Non-islet-cell tumours which induce hypoglycaemia are rare. Insulin-like growth factor-II (IGF-II) produced by some tumours is thought to be responsible for the hypoglycaemia and other systemic effects, despite normal or even low serum IGF-II levels. We studied a 44-year-old woman presenting with symptomatic hypoglycaemia associated with a large intraabdominal haemangiopericytoma. The serum IGF-II level was 455 μg/l when measured after acid-ethanol extraction (normal range (NR) 450–750 μg/l) and 1063 μg/l after acid chromatography (normal human serum pool 1068 μg/l). Levels of fasting plasma insulin, C-peptide, glucose and serum IGF-I levels were low before the operation (< 2 mU/l (NR <2-14), 0·23 nmol/l (NR 0-4-1-2), 3-1 mmol/l, (NR 3-7-5-9) and 002 U/ml respectively). After tumour removal, the symptoms resolved rapidly and the patient made a full recovery. Secretion of both insulin and growth hormone was suppressed before the operation in response to a 75 g glucose meal and to an infusion of 100 μg GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) respectively in comparison with studies after the operation. Serum IGF-II levels 6 weeks and 12 weeks after the operation fell to 385 μg/1 (777 μg/1; acid chromatography) and 280 μg/1 (647 μg/1; acid chromatography) and serum IGF-I levels increased to 0-35 U/ml and 0-26 U/ml. Serum before the operation and tumour extract contained chiefly a large molecular weight precursor IGF-II (molecular weight 15 000–20 000) which disappeared from the serum after the operation. The IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP-1, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3 and IGFBP-4) were examined. The preoperation fasting serum IGFBP-1 level was lower than expected (31 μg/l (NR 20–70 μg/l)) and similar to levels at 6 weeks after the operation (33 μg/l). This was surprising given the differences in plasma insulin levels before and after the operation (< 2 mU/l versus 13 mU/l). Using Western ligand blotting techniques, serum IGFBP-3 levels were found to be low and IGFBP-2 appeared to be the dominant IGFBP before the operation. Serum IGFBP-3 levels after the operation fell further. This further decrease appeared, in part, to be due to the presence of a cation-dependent IGFBP-3-specific protease which has previously only been described in late pregnancy. We conclude that in this subject, despite normal serum IGF-II levels, the hypoglycaemia and systemic effects on insulin and GH secretion were due to increased bioavailability of a circulating tumour-produced precursor form of IGF-II. This increased bioavailability appears to be due to alterations in the circulating levels and perhaps affinities of the IGFBPs. Journal of Endocrinology (1991) 131, 303–311

1990 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Gargosky ◽  
P. E. Walton ◽  
P. C. Owens ◽  
J. C. Wallace ◽  
F. J. Ballard

ABSTRACT Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), IGF-II and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBP) were examined in rat serum during pregnancy and lactation. IGF-I concentrations determined after acid column chromatography of serum were low during the last third of pregnancy. IGF-II was undetectable in pregnant and non-pregnant rats. IGF-binding protein (IGFBP) concentrations, measured as high molecular mass activity in the IGF-I RIA and the IGF-II RRA of acid column fractions, paralleled the changes observed with IGF-I. Western ligand blot analysis of serum from non-pregnant rats revealed a 40–50 kDa IGFBP aligning with IGFBP-3, a smaller 28–30 kDa doublet and 24 kDa IGFBP. Serum from rats in late pregnancy lacked IGFBP-3, whereas the smaller IGFBP persisted during late pregnancy. IGFBP-3 reappeared in postpartum animals. The fall in serum IGF-I is consistent with a maternal catabolic state during late pregnancy which may maximize substrate availability for the developing fetus. Journal of Endocrinology (1990) 127, 383–390


Author(s):  
Barbara H Mason ◽  
Michele A Tatnell ◽  
Ian M Holdaway

Measurement of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) in human serum is complicated by the presence of IGF binding proteins and usually involves cumbersome extraction procedures followed by radioimmunoassay. We have utilized an extraction process developed for measuring insulin-like growth factor II in ovine serum using Sephacryl HR100, and have applied this to the extraction of human samples followed by radioimmunoassay for human IGF-II. The assay yielded 98% recovery of unlabelled IGF-II, parallelism between dilutions of eluate and the standard curve, complete removal of binding proteins and near-complete removal of IGF-I, and intra- and interassay coefficients of variation of 5% and 9%, respectively. The normal range for serum IGF-II in women was 490–1056 μg/L, and IGF-II levels were positively correlated with serum concentrations of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) but not with IGF-I levels. Mean serum concentrations of IGF-II were reduced below normal in a number of hypopituitary patients and children with short stature and IGF-II concentrations in these subjects correlated positively with IGF-I and IGFBP-3. In acromegalic patients IGF-II levels were usually normal and were negatively correlated with IGF-I concentrations. From our experience with the above results the present assay appears particularly suitable for clinical measurements and research projects where high sample throughput is required.


1995 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 545-557 ◽  
Author(s):  
J M Carr ◽  
J A Owens ◽  
P A Grant ◽  
P E Walton ◽  
P C Owens ◽  
...  

Abstract The IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) are a family of at least six structurally related proteins, which bind the IGFs and modulate their actions, including the regulation of preand postnatal growth. In this study we have examined the relationship between circulating and tissue mRNA levels of IGFBPs and related this to circulating IGFs in the fetal sheep over the gestational period when rapid growth and development occurs. Circulating IGFBP-2, as measured by Western ligand blot (WLB), increases between early and mid gestation, remains high, then declines throughout late gestation (P=0·0002). Circulating IGFBP-3 increases throughout gestation, as measured by WLB or RIA (P=0·04 and P=0·0001 respectively), as does circulating IGFBP-4 (P=0·004). These ontogenic changes in circulating IGFBPs-2 and -4 are paralleled by changes in liver mRNA for these proteins and, for IGFBP-2, by those in kidney IGFBP-2 mRNA also. This suggests that liver and kidney may be the primary contributors to circulating IGFBP-2 and the liver to circulating IGFBP-4. IGFBP-2 mRNA is present in the heart and lung in early gestation but barely detectable in these tissues after approximately 60 days gestation. IGFBP-4 mRNA is also present in the heart in early but not late gestation, but is abundant in the lung throughout gestation. These results demonstrate tissue specific and developmental regulation of IGFBPs-2 and -4 at the mRNA level. To assess any role the circulating IGFs may play in mediating these changes in IGFBPs, or vice versa, both plasma IGF-I and IGF-II were measured by RIA. Circulating IGF-I increases as gestation progresses (P=0·0001), while circulating IGF-II increases between early and mid gestation, remains high (P=0·01), then declines. Circulating IGF-I is positively correlated with fetal weight (r=0·66, P=0·03), circulating IGFBP-3 (r=0·54, P=0·01) and IGFBP-4 (r=0·52, P=0·01). Circulating IGF-II positively correlates with circulating IGFBP-2 (r=0·48, P=0·02) throughout gestation and at 1 day postnatally. These relationships are consistent with circulating IGF-I influencing IGFBPs-3 and -4, and similarly, IGF-II determining IGFBP-2, or vice versa. Alternatively, these correlations may reflect coordinate regulation of IGF and IGFBP by a common factor. Journal of Endocrinology (1995) 145, 545–557


1991 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-NP ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Davies ◽  
J. A. H. Wass ◽  
R. J. M. Ross ◽  
A. M. Cotterill ◽  
C. R. Buchanan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I and IGF-II) are almost completely bound in the circulation to specific binding proteins (IGFBPs). These IGFBPs appear to play a pivotal role in maintaining circulating levels and modulating the delivery of the IGFs to the tissues. A large proportion of the circulating IGFs are bound with high affinity to one of the binding proteins, IGFBP-3. The mechanism by which these IGFs are transferred from the circulatory pool to the tissue receptors is at present unclear. Recent studies in late pregnancy have demonstrated the presence of specific proteases which may modify the IGFBPs such that their affinities for the IGFs are reduced. In this paper, we have demonstrated the presence of a heat-sensitive cation-dependent proteolytic enzyme specific for IGFBP-3 in the serum of five severely ill patients. The activity of this protease was found to vary in these patients, becoming more apparent during fasting than when studied after commencement of parenteral nutrition, indicating that one of the influencing factors in the activity of this protease is the nutritional intake of the patient. Age- and sex-matched healthy adults were also studied in a similar protocol, but no proteolytic modification of any of the IGFBPs was found in any of the samples examined. As the levels of both IGF-I and IGF-II were found to be low in the patients, the presence of a circulatory protease suggests that this may be an adaptive response to increase the bioavailability of the IGFs and possibly to improve the nitrogen retention and counter the catabolic state in severe illness. Journal of Endocrinology (1991) 130,469–473


1997 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
J P McCann ◽  
S C Loo ◽  
D L Aalseth ◽  
T Abribat

Abstract The effect of body condition per se on plasma IGFs and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) and the whole-body metabolic responses to recombinant DNA-derived bovine GH (rbGH) in both the fed and the fasted state were determined in lean and dietary obese sheep (n=6/group). Sheep at zero-energy balance and equilibrium body weight were injected s.c. for 12 days with 100 μg/kg rbGH immediately before their morning feeding. Before GH treatment, fasting plasma concentrations of insulin (17·0 ± 1·9 vs 7·5 ± 0·7 μU/ml), IGF-I (345 ± 25 vs 248 ± 10 ng/ml), glucose (52·6 ± 1·1 vs 48·3 ± 0·7 mg/dl), and free fatty acid (FFA) (355 ± 45 vs 229 ± 24 nmol/ml) were greater (P<0·05) and those of GH (1·1 ± 0·2 vs 2·6 ± 0·3 ng/ml) were lower (P<0·05) in obese than in lean sheep. Fasting concentrations of IGF-II and glucagon were not affected (P>0·05) by obesity. GH concentrations were increased equivalently by 6–9 ng/ml in lean and obese sheep during GH treatment. GH caused an immediate and a marked fivefold increase in the fasting insulin level in obese sheep but only minimally affected insulin concentration in lean sheep. The increment in fasting glucose during GH treatment was greater (P<0·05) in obese (8–12 mg/dl) than in lean (2–5 mg/dl) sheep. Frequent measurements in the first 8 h after feeding and injection of excipient (day 0) or the first (day 1), sixth (day 6) and twelfth (day 12) daily injection of GH showed that prandial metabolism in both groups of sheep was affected minimally by GH. However, GH treatment on day 1 (not days 6 or 12) acutely attenuated the feeding-induced suppression of plasma FFA in both groups of sheep and this effect was significantly greater in obese than in lean sheep. Although obese sheep were hyposomatotropic, the basal and GH-induced increases in plasma IGF-I concentrations were greater (P<0·05) in obese than in lean sheep. Plasma IGF-II was unaffected by obesity and was not increased by GH stimulation. Western ligand blotting showed that IGFBP-3 accounted for approximately 50–60% of the plasma IGF-I binding capacity in sheep respectively both before and during GH treatment. Basal plasma levels of IGFBP-2 were lower (P<0·05) and those of IGFBP-3 greater (P<0·05) in obese compared with lean sheep. GH increased the level of IGFBP-3 equally in lean and obese sheep, but suppressed the expression of IGFBP-2 more (P<0·05) in lean than in obese sheep. We concluded that the diabetogenic-like actions of GH in sheep were exaggerated markedly by obesity, and were expressed more during the fasted than the fed states. The effects of GH stimulation on the endocrine pancreas may be selective for β-cells and preferentially enhanced by obesity. GH regulation of IGF-I and the IGFBPs differs in lean and obese sheep. Journal of Endocrinology (1997) 154, 329–346


2001 ◽  
Vol 168 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Plath-Gabler ◽  
C Gabler ◽  
F Sinowatz ◽  
B Berisha ◽  
D Schams

To study the involvement of the IGFs in mammary development and lactation of the cow, the temporal expressions of IGF-I and -II, its receptor type 1 (IGFR-1), IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs)-1 to -6 and GH receptor (GHR) mRNA were examined. This was carried out for different stages of mammogenesis, lactogenesis, galactopoiesis and involution in the bovine mammary gland of 26 animals. Furthermore, IGF-I was localised by immunohistochemistry. The highest mRNA concentrations for IGF-I were detected in the mammary tissue of late pregnant heifers (days 255-272) and significantly lower expression was detected during lactogenesis and galactopoiesis. Immunohistochemistry of IGF-I revealed only a weak staining in the epithelium of the ducts during mammogenesis. The epithelium of the alveoli were negative during mammogenesis, lactogenesis and galactopoiesis but displayed distinct IGF-I activity during involution. In the stroma a distinct staining of the cytoplasm of adipocytes and of vascular smooth muscle cells was observed. A certain percentage of fibroblasts (usually 20-30%) were also immunopositive. In contrast, highest expression for IGFR-1 was detected during galactopoiesis and involution. The lowest mRNA concentration for IGFR-1 was found during pregnancy (days 194-213). In general, the expression of IGF-II was not regulated during mammogenesis and lactation, but decreased during involution. The mRNA for the six binding proteins was detected in the bovine mammary gland. The dominant binding proteins were IGFBP-3 and -5. The highest expression of IGFBP-3 was observed during mid-pregnancy and the lowest during late lactation, involution and in non-pregnant heifers. The mRNA for IGFBP-5 increased during late mammogenesis and lactogenesis followed by a decrease thereafter. In general, the mRNA concentrations for IGFBP-2, -4 and -6 were barely detectable during all stages. In contrast, the expression for IGFBP-1 was upregulated in the mammary gland of virgin heifers and increased around the onset of lactation. mRNA for GHR was found during all stages examined without outstanding fluctuations. In conclusion, locally produced IGF-I and -II may mediate mammogenesis. The high mammary IGFR-1 mRNA during lactation suggests a role for peripheral IGF-I in maintenance of lactation. The role of IGFBPs in the mammary gland needs further evaluation.


1991 ◽  
Vol 275 (2) ◽  
pp. 441-446 ◽  
Author(s):  
C D Scott ◽  
R C Baxter

Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) circulate predominantly in a growth-hormone-dependent ternary complex of 125-150 kDa. This study investigates the production of the alpha-subunit of this complex, an acid-labile glycoprotein without intrinsic IGF-binding activity, which binds to the IGF-binding protein IGFBP-3 in the presence of IGFs. Medium conditioned by primary cultures of rat hepatocytes produced alpha-subunit with similar complex-forming activity to purified rat serum alpha-subunit. Bovine growth hormone stimulated hepatocyte production of both IGF-I and alpha-subunit. IGF-I tracer bound to pure rat IGFBP-3 was converted from approx. 60 kDa to 150 kDa by serum alpha-subunit, whole rat serum or rat hepatocyte culture medium; this converting activity was destroyed by transient acidification. In contrast, IGF-I bound to hepatocyte-medium IGF-binding proteins could not be converted into a high-molecular-mass from by purified rat serum alpha-subunit. Rat serum and hepatocyte-medium alpha-subunit appeared identical by electrophoretic analysis, since reaction of either with cross-linked IGF-I.IGFBP-3 tracer resulted in bands of molecular mass 130 kDa and 160 kDa, probably representing intact and partially deglycosylated complexes. However, IGF-binding proteins in rat serum and hepatocyte medium were different, in that affinity labelling of medium binding proteins, depleted of endogenous IGFs, showed no evidence of the 50-60 kDa cluster of bands characteristic of rat serum IGFBP-3. We conclude that rat hepatocytes in primary culture produce alpha-subunit similar to that in rat serum; however, alpha-subunit is unable to form ternary complexes with hepatocyte IGF-binding proteins, since cultured hepatocytes do not secrete IGFBP-3.


2000 ◽  
Vol 278 (6) ◽  
pp. E1087-E1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles H. Lang ◽  
Xiaoli Liu ◽  
Gerald J. Nystrom ◽  
Robert A. Frost

Previous studies demonstrate that thermal injury decreases circulating levels of insulin growth factor I (IGF-I) and alters the plasma concentration of several IGF binding proteins (IGFBP), but the mechanisms for these alterations have not been elucidated. In the current study, a 30% total body surface area full-thickness scald burn was produced in anesthetized rats, and animals were studied 24 h later. The plasma concentration of both total and free IGF-I was decreased (38 and 65%, respectively) in burn rats compared with values from time-matched control animals. Thermal injury decreased the IGF-I peptide content in liver ∼40%, as well as in fast-twitch skeletal muscle (56–69%) and heart (28%). In contrast, IGF-I content in kidney was elevated by 36% in burn rats. Northern blot analysis of liver indicated that burn decreased the expression of small (1.7- and 0.9- to 1.2-kb) IGF-I mRNA transcripts but increased the expression of the 7.5-kb transcript. In contrast, there was a coordinate decrease in all IGF-I mRNA transcripts in muscle and kidney of ∼30%. For liver, muscle, and kidney, there was no significant difference in the expression of growth hormone receptor mRNA between control and burn rats. Thermal injury increased plasma IGFBP-1 levels, and this change was associated with increased IGFBP-1 mRNA in both liver and kidney. IGFBP-3 levels in plasma were concomitantly decreased by burn injury. This change was associated with a reduction in IGFBP-3 mRNA in liver but an increased expression of IGFBP-3 in kidney and muscle. Thermal injury also decreased the concentration of the acid-labile subunit (ALS) in plasma and ALS mRNA expression in liver. Finally, hepatic expression of IGFBP-related peptide-1 was increased twofold in liver but was unchanged in kidney or muscle of burn rats. These results characterize burn-induced changes in various components of the IGF system in select tissues and thereby provide potential mechanisms for alterations in the circulating IGF system and for changes in tissue metabolism.


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