Low plasma levels of Insulin-like Growth Factor I in Perthes' disease A controlled study of 59 consecutive children

Decreased levels of IGF binding protein-3 in serum from children with Perthes’ disease

“…In our study, we measured the plasma levels of IGF-I in patients with Perthes' disease after acid/ethanol extraction to dissociate IGF-I from binding proteins and found that the serum concentrations of IGF-I in children with Perthes' disease were not significantly lower than those in control subjects. This is not in agreement with the findings of Neidel et al (1992), who employed a similar method to measure IGF-I and found that during the first 2 years after the diagnosis of Perthes' disease, IGF-I plasma levels were reduced. 6 1GF-binding proteins have been characterized and, to date, IGFBP-3 is the most abundant of these in normal serum.…”

“…IGF-I is one of the most potent factors for growth of bone and cartilage tissue (Isaksson et al 1991). There have been some reports regarding plasma IGF-I levels in Perthes' disease but the findings have been conflicting (Tanaka et al 1984, Burwell et al 1986, Kitsugi et al 1989, Neidel et al 1992. One reason may be differences in methods used to measure IGF-I: radio-receptor assay, bioassay or radioimmunoassay.…”

“…Insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) promote the differentiation and proliferation of cartilage tissue (Isaksson et al 1991, Seong et al 1994). There have been some reports regarding IGFs in the serum of patients with Perthes' disease but the findings of these studies are contradictory (Bunvell et al 1986, Kitsugi et al 1989, Neidel et al 1992. In serum, most IGFs are bound to IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) and are carried to target cells.…”

Altered Postnatal Expression of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I (IGF-I) and Type X Collagen Preceding the Perthes' Disease–Like Lesion of a Rat Model

“…Interestingly, several studies have reported abnormal levels of IGF-I also among patients with Perthes' disease. (14,15) …”

“…(12,13) Because IGF-II is the prevailing agent during the prenatal life, a rapid upregulation of IGF-I and takeover of IGF-II should occur during the early postnatal growth of the cartilage. (9)(10)(11)(12)(13) In turn, several investigators (14,15) have reported abnormal IGF-I levels among the patients with Perthes' disease and have implicated these abnormalities in the pathogenesis of Perthes' disease in humans.…”