Effect of growth hormone therapy in mitigating hypoxia-induced and food restriction-induced growth retardation in the newborn rat.

OBJECTIVE: Hypoxia may alter the neuroendocrine control of catabolic and anabolic states early in postnatal life by modulating the growth hormone-insulin-like growth factor-I (GH-IGF-I) system. We wondered: a) to what extent hypoxia effects on the GH-IGF-I axis differed from those of food deprivation alone; and b) whether administration of exogenous GH mitigates alterations of the GH-IGF-I axis caused by hypoxia or food restriction. DESIGN: Prospective laboratory investigation using nursing dams and suckling pups. Experimental groups included: a) room air control subjects; b) hypoxia-exposed subjects (FIO2, 0.12); or c) room air breathing subjects whose dam food intake was matched to that of hypoxic dams. Half of the pups in each group were administered rat GH (100 microg subcutaneously each day), and the remaining received vehicle alone. The intervention lasted 18 days. SETTING: Research laboratory in a university medical center. SUBJECTS: Twelve litters of 1-day-old Sprague-Dawley rat pups and nursing dams. INTERVENTIONS: Hypoxia exposure, food restriction, GH administration. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: By the end of the study, body weights of the hypoxic and pair-fed pups were significantly lower than the weights of control animals (p < .001 for both groups), and weight gain correlated significantly with total dam food consumption (r2 = .85, p < .0001). GH administration increased weight gain only in hypoxic animals (p < .001) but it increased tail lengths significantly in both hypoxic and control pups (p < .001). Serum IGF-I levels in both hypoxic and pair-fed pups were significantly lower than in control animals. Serum IGF-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) was significantly lower in the hypoxic compared with the control animals. GH administration resulted in significant increases in serum levels of IGFBP-3 in both the control (p < .05) and the hypoxic (p < .01) pups compared with their vehicle-treated litter mates. CONCLUSIONS: Exogenous GH attenuates growth impairment associated with hypoxia but not with food restriction, and these effects may be mediated in part by IGFBP-3.

Effect of hypoxia on lung, heart, and liver insulin-like growth factor-I gene and receptor expression in the newborn rat.

OBJECTIVES: We examined the effect of 7 days of hypoxia in the newborn rat on: a) body, heart, and lung growth; b) circulating insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I); c) lung, heart, and liver IGF-I gene expression; and d) lung IGF-I type 1 receptor gene expression and IGF-I receptor binding. We hypothesize that hypoxic exposure would modify body and organ growth and alter IGF-I gene and receptor expression in an organ specific manner. DESIGN: Randomized, controlled prospective study. SETTING: University research laboratory. SUBJECTS: Eleven newborn rat litters (n = 10 per litter) comprised the hypoxia-exposed group and 11 litters comprised the control group (room air). INTERVENTIONS: Hypoxia-group rats were placed in a chamber with an FIO2 of 0.12 on postnatal day 1. Control group rats breathed room air. Exposure to hypoxia continued for 7 days. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Hepatic, lung, and cardiac IGF-I mRNA levels and lung IGF-I type 1 receptor mRNA were analyzed, using the ribonuclease protection assay. Crude membrane extracts were used for competitive binding studies with IGF-I and insulin. Somatic growth in the hypoxic group was reduced by 22% (final weight: hypoxic, 14.8 +/- 1.2 g; control, 17.1 +/- 1.5 g; p < .001). The relative weight (organ weight/body weight [mg/g]) of the heart was increased by 39% (p < .001) in the hypoxic pups compared with the normoxic animals, while the relative weight of the lung was unchanged. With hypoxia, IFG-I mRNA concentrations were significantly increased both in the heart and lung (30% and 33%, respectively, p < .02); but, in contrast, IGF-I mRNA concentrations were not significantly different in the liver. The IGF-I receptor mRNA in the lung was increased by 200% (p < .02) in hypoxia compared with controls. There was no effect of hypoxia on specific or nonspecific binding of IGF-I or insulin in the lung tissue. However, specific binding was 33% greater in the IGF-I compared with the insulin experiments. CONCLUSIONS: a) Hypoxia increased IGF-I mRNA in the heart, and increased both IGF-I mRNA and IGF-I type 1 receptor mRNA in the lung. b) The effects of hypoxia on IFG-I are tissue-specific.

Effect of training and growth hormone suppression on insulin-like growth factor I mRNA in young rats.

The growth hormone (GH)-insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) axis plays a role in the adaptation to exercise training, but IGF-I gene expression in response to exercise training and GH suppression has not been studied. Twenty female rates underwent a 4-wk treadmill training program begun in the prepubertal period (day 14 of life). In 10 of the training rats, GH production was suppressed by anti-GH-releasing hormone antibodies (GH suppressed). IGF-I mRNA and protein levels were measured in liver and hindlimb skeletal muscle. GH suppression reduced IGF-I mRNA expression in the liver to a much greater extent than in the muscle. In the GH control rats, training induced significant increases in hepatic exon 1-derived IGF-I mRNA (mean increase 30%; P < 0.05) and muscle exon 2-derived mRNA (mean increase 35%; P < 0.05). In the GH-suppressed rats, only muscle exon 1-derived transcripts were significantly increased by training (55%; P < 0.05) and this was associated with a significant increase in muscle IGF-I protein levels (P < 0.05). We speculate that the anabolic response to training may involve both GH-dependent increases in IGF-I mRNA in the liver and GH-independent increases in the muscle.