THE EFFECT OF OVARIAN-FUNCTION ON INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR-I PLASMA-LEVELS AND HEPATIC IGF-I MESSENGER-RNA LEVELS IN DIABETIC RATS TREATED WITH INSULIN

When insulin was administered to streptozotocin-induced diabetic female rats, the percentage of glycohemolobin, growth rate, ovulatory cycle, uterus to body weight ratio, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) level returned to near normal. In untreated diabetic rats there were no normla estrous cycles, and hepatic IGF-I mRNA (8.94 ± 1.02 O.D. units per μg total RNA) levels were significantly lower than the control or insulin-treated groups in proestrus (16.47 ± 0.91 and 17.15 ± 1.84, respectively). Insulin therapy restored the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis with the reinstitution of normal estrous cycles. Plasma IGF-I levels were highest in non-diabetic proestrous animals (277 ± 36.9 ng/ml), significantly higher than IGF-I levels in insulin-treated diabetic rats in diestrus (174 ± 23.1 ng/ml), non-diabetic diestrous rats (165 ± 18.4 ng/ml) and untreated diabetic rats (135 ± 19.7 ng/ml). Plasma IGF-I levels were elevated in insulin-treated diabetic rats in proestrus (221 ± 78.3 ng/ml), however this was not significantly different from any other group. The increases observed in plasma IGF-I and hepatic IGF-I mRNA after insulin theraphy correlate with the normalization of sex hormone secretion. Though this study does not prove a causal relationship between restoration of ovarian function and normalization of circulating IGF-I levels, a relationship has been established, as evidenced by higher levels of IGF-I in both the control and insulin-treated diabetic proestrous groups when compared to the diestrous groups. © 1990.