Circulating levels of insulin-like growth factors and their binding proteins in patients with chronic liver disease: lack of correlation with bone mineral density

Background/Aims: Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) levels are low in pat ients with chronic liver disease (CLD) and have been found to correlate wit h measurements of bone mineral density (BMD) in men with viral cirrhosis. T he aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between circulatin g IGF-I levels and BMD in patients with CLD of other causes. Methods. Fifty -eight patients with CID were included. Age- and sex-matched normal individ uals served as controls. Serum levels of IGF-I and IGF-II and their binding proteins (IGFBP-1-3) were measured by radioimmunoassay. BMD was measured b y dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Results. IGF-I levels were 57 +/- 33 an d 136 +/- 45 ng/ml; p<0.0001 in patients and controls, respectively IGF-II and IGFBP-3 levels were lower (p<0.0001) and IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-2 levels wer e higher in patients compared with controls (p<0.0005 and p<0.0001, respect ively). All growth factors, except for IGFBP-2, correlated with parameters of liver function. In a multiple regression analysis, adjusting for age, no correlation was found between IGF-I, IGF-II, IGFBP-1-3 and BMD in either p atients or controls. Conclusion: Patients with CLD have low levels of IGF-I , IGF-II and IGFBP-3 that correlate with liver function. No relationship wa s found between low levels of growth factors and BMD.