title: Chronic ethanol feeding inhibits plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-1.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the generalized catabolic effects of chronic ethanol may be associated with a decline in plasma levels of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1). Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a liquid diet containing 5% ethanol or pair-fed a diet made isocaloric with maltose-dextrin. Animals were maintained on this diet for either 12 days or 4.5 months. Another group of animals were fed control diet ad libitum for 2 weeks. After 12 days of feeding, plasma concentrations of IGF-1 in ad libitum fed rats were 771 +/- 41 ng/ml which was greater than concentrations in either pair-fed (595 +/- 23 ng/ml) or ethanol-fed (680 +/- 40 ng/ml) rats (P less than 0.05). After 4.5 months of feeding, plasma levels of IGF-1 in ad libitum and pair-fed rats were similar to the 12 day study (736 +/- 56 and 607 +/- 26 ng/ml, respectively). However, a significant decrease in plasma levels of IGF-1 was observed in ethanol-fed animals over the 4.5 month period (551 +/- 28 ng/ml, P less than 0.05). Results of a similar study in rats fed a high-fat diet for 4.5 months were similar to those found with the low-fat diet. These results indicate that 1) dietary restriction of the type routinely used in this pair-feeding regimen decreases plasma levels of IGF-1, 2) chronic ethanol feeding further decreases plasma IGF-1 levels compared to pair-fed rats, 3) the effects of ethanol on IGF-1 concentrations are not modified by dietary fat, and 4) the effects on IGF-1 are not directly dependent on elevated plasma ethanol concentrations. Our results suggest that IGF-1 secreting cells in the liver may be progressively damaged by chronic ethanol feeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC.
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Sonntag
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Boyd
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004041:Dietary Fats / Q000502:physiology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D000431:Ethanol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013002:Somatomedins / Q000097:blood*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004041:Dietary Fats; D013002:Somatomedins; D000431:Ethanol; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I