[Investigation on the levels of IGF-I receptor and IGF-I binding protein I in the brain of insulin resistant rats]

ABSTRACT

There is limited knowledge available on the metabolism of glucose in the brain, an insulin insensitive organ. Insulin receptors hybridize with insulin like growth factor receptor [IGF-I] to transducer the signals in different areas of the brain. In this article we aimed at investigating whether the expression of IGF-I receptor and IGF-I binding proteins [IGFBP1] is changed in the brain of the diabetic animal model. To induce insulin resistance, adult wistar rats were fed with fructose in their drinking water [10%]. The expression of IGF-I receptor and its binding protein were examined immunohistochemically. Our findings demonstrated that the expression of IGF-I receptor and IGF-I binding protein were not changed in different areas of the brain in insulin resistant rats, compared to those in the control rats. The unchanged expression levels of IGF-I and its binding protein I not imply the lack of involvement of the IGF-I signal transduction pathway in the insulin resistant brain, further investigations are to clarify the issue