Expression of insulin-like growth factor-1 in uremic rats: Growth hormone resistance and nutritional intake

Abstract

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that induction of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is reduced in the uremic rat liver, which would help to explain the purported growth hormone resistance noted in uremia. IGF-1 mRNA, in the steady state and after acute induction by two doses of 100 μg/100 g body wt recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), was quantitated by solution hybridization in total liver RNA, extracted by the guanidine thiocyanate/cesium chloride gradient method. Eighteen Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 100 to 102 g were randomly divided into three groups: sham-operated control rats (control group); 5/6 nephrectomized rats (uremic group); and sham-operated controls with dietary intake matching that of the uremic rats (pair-fed group). The results showed that the steady state liver IGF-1 mRNA was 1.7 arbitrary densitometry units (ADU) in the uremic animals, and was lower than the value of 3.2 ADU in the control animals (P < 0.05). After the acute administration of rhGH, the liver IGF-1 mRNA of control, uremic and pair-fed groups showed mean increases of 154% (P < 0.05), 124% (not significant, NS) and 117% (NS), respectively. The lack of IGF-1 induction in the uremic group supported the concept of growth hormone resistance in uremia. In addition, a similar lack of induction was observed in the pair-fed group, whose food intake was 65% that of the control animals. This indicated that the lack of IGF-1 induction was at least partially due to the reduced food intake. Our data also showed that the expression of growth hormone receptor mRNA in the uremic group was decreased to 41% of the control group (P < 0.05), while the decrease in expression of growth hormone receptor mRNA of the pair-fed group was 87% of the value in the control group (P = NS). We conclude that the lack of IGF-1 induction by exogenous rhGH in the pair-fed group was due, in large part, to the reduced food intake. By contrast, the growth hormone resistance in the uremic group was due to the combined effects of both reduced food intake and decreased growth hormone receptor at the transcription level.