This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Sass, D. A. Articles by Epstein, S. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Sass, D. A. Articles by Epstein, S.

Short-Term Effects of Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor I on Cancellous Bone in Rhesus Macaque Monkeys¹

Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Albert Einstein Medical Center (D.A.S., A.R.B., S.E.), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19141; the Department of Comparative Medicine, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University (C.P.J., A.B.-C., T.A.G.), Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27127; and the Diabetes Branch, National Institutes of Health (D.L.), Bethesda, Maryland 20892

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Sol Epstein, M.D., Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Albert Einstein Medical Center, 5401 Old York Road, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19141.

The purpose of our study was to determine the effects of GH and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) administration singly and in combination on vertebral, tibial, and femoral bone in aged female monkeys as well as the various treatment effects on serum hormone levels and osteocalcin gene expression. Twenty-one ovulating female monkeys (rhesus macaque), aged 16–20 yr (5–6 kg), were divided into four groups to receive the following treatment for 7 weeks via Alzet pumps inserted sc: A, eluant (control group); B, recombinant human IGF-I (rhIGF-I; 120 µg/kg·day); C) rhGH (100 µg/kg·day); D, combination of rhIGF-I (120 µg/kg·day) and rhGH (100 µg/kg·day). Serum was assayed serially for glucose, IGF-I, GH, and IGF-binding protein-3 levels. All groups received double labeling with calcein. On the day of death, the primates’ second lumbar vertebrae, tibiae, and femora were carefully dissected, fixed in 70% ethanol, and subjected to histomorphometric analysis. Ribonucleic acid was extracted from contralateral tibiae for the purpose of osteocalcin gene expression analysis. Serum glucose was unaffected by treatment. Serum GH was significantly elevated in groups C and D, whereas serum IGF-I and IGFBP-3 were only significantly increased in group D. Histomorphometric analysis showed no significant differences or trends for bone volume in any treatment group. Bone formation rate, surface and/or bone volume referent were significantly higher in both groups treated with GH (C and D) in tibia and femur, with a similar trend in vertebrae. The increase in bone formation rate was due mainly to a significant increase in mineral apposition rate, but there was also an increase in tibial mineralizing surface by GH by factorial analysis (P < 0.05). There were significant treatment effects on osteoid surface and osteoclastic surface in femur in the combination treatment group vs. the controls. Osteocalcin gene expression analysis supported an enhanced expression in both groups treated with GH. These findings are consistent with a short term effect of GH to increase bone remodeling and predominantly osteoblastic activity in the appendicular skeleton. In contrast, other than an isolated increase in osteoclastic surface in femoral bone, IGF-I, when administered alone, was unable to significantly influence bone formation or resorption activity in this short term study.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				C. Ohlsson, B.-A. Bengtsson, O. G. P. Isaksson, T. T. Andreassen, and M. C. Slootweg Growth Hormone and Bone Endocr. Rev., February 1, 1998; 19(1): 55 - 79. [Abstract] [Full Text]