Intraperitoneal insulin is more potent than subcutaneous insulin at restoring hepatic insulin-like growth factor-I mRNA levels in the diabetic rat: a functional role for the portal vascular link

Abstract
There is evidence that the hormonal control of hepatic IGF-I production is mediated by GH and insulin. To elucidate the role of these hormones further we administered s.c. or i.p. insulin (at 2·5 and 5·0 IU/day) and/or GH (0·8 IU/day) to rats made diabetic with streptozotocin 16 days previously. Hepatic IGF-I production was then assessed by quantifying hepatic IGF-I mRNA levels by autoradiography of Northern blots. Diabetes resulted in a fivefold reduction in hepatic IGF-I mRNA levels (optical density (OD) of the 0·7–1·1 kb band: controls, 1·3±0·09; diabetics, 0·28±0·08; PPPP<0·01), whilst having no effect on blood glucose values (diabetic, 36·35±0·45 mmol/l; GH-treated, 38·65±2·39 mmol/l). Additional administration of s.c. insulin completely restored IGF-I mRNA levels to those of controls (OD: low dose, 1·35±0·14; high dose, 1·27 ± 0·18). These observations indicate that insulin and GH are required for full expression of hepatic IGF-I mRNA and that insulin given i.p. is more potent than that given s.c. at stimulating hepatic synthesis of IGF-I.

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