In vivo administration of insulin-like growth factor-I stimulates primary B lymphopoiesis and enhances lymphocyte recovery after bone marrow transplantation.

Recombinant human insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) (100 micrograms/day) was infused by osmotic minipumps into mice to evaluate its effects on bone marrow B lymphopoiesis. IGF-I treatment resulted in a significant increase in the total number of bone marrow B lineage cells by 2 wk post-treatment in both normal, adult mice and animals that had been lethally irradiated and reconstituted with syngeneic bone marrow. Effects were still apparent at wk 3, even though pumps delivered IGF-I for only 14 days. In addition, the results confirm previous observations that IGF-I treatment results in an increase in numbers of splenic B cells and suggest that this is in part the result of stimulation of B cell proliferation in that organ.