Advance in the relationship between gut microbiota and GH-IGF-1 axis / 国际儿科学杂志

ABSTRACT

Nowadays, more and more attention was attached to the problem of children′s growth and development.It is known that postnatal growth is mainly regulated by the conserved GH-IGF-1 axis that acts through endocrine and paracrine pathways.It is now well established that undernourished children harbor an altered microbiota, correlated with impaired growth.Moreover, many disorders of intestinal flora are always accompanied by growth retardation.These evidences show that there might be a certain relationship between intestinal flora and growth and development.Recent studies have demonstrated that intestinal flora may regulate the growth and development process through this axis, and GH-IGF-1 axis may also affect the composition and diversity of intestinal flora.This paper reviewes the bidirectional regulatory relationship between intestinal microbiota and the GH-IGF-1 axis to reveal the functional relationship between growth and development of children and GH-IGF-1 axis as well as the intestinal flora.By elucidating the influence of intestinal flora on growth and development, a new approach would be found for the application of therapeutic methods of microflora in the field of growth retardation in children.