Circulating levels of insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins in patients with chronic liver disease: lack of correlation with bone mineral density.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels are low in patients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and have been found to correlate with measurements of bone mineral density (BMD) in men with viral cirrhosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between circulating IGF-I levels and BMD in patients with CLD of other causes.

METHODS

Fifty-eight patients with CLD were included. Age- and sex-matched normal individuals served as controls. Serum levels of IGF-I and IGF-II and their binding proteins (IGFBP-1-3) were measured by radioimmunoassay. BMD was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.

RESULTS

IGF-I levels were 57+/-33 and 136+/-48 ng/ml; p<0.0001 in patients and controls, respectively. IGF-II and IGFBP-3 levels were lower (p<0.0001) and IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 levels were higher in patients compared with controls (p<0.0005 and p<0.0001, respectively). All growth factors, except for IGFBP-2, correlated with parameters of liver function. In a multiple regression analysis, adjusting for age, no correlation was found between IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1-3 and BMD in either patients or controls.

CONCLUSION

Patients with CLD have low levels of IGF-I, IGF-II and IGFBP-3 that correlate with liver function. No relationship was found between low levels of growth factors and BMD.