title: Age-related plasma concentrations of growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor I(IGF-I) in Great Dane pups fed different dietary levels of protein.
abstract: During a 20-week study, 17 Great Dane dogs, 7 weeks of age, were used to study the influence of 3 isoenergetic diets differing in dietary protein levels (i.e., 31.6%, 23.1%, and 14.6% on a dry matter basis) on body weight, growth in length, and age-related plasma GH and IGF levels. Significant differences occurred in weekly body weight gain of the high- and low- protein groups only in the fourth week of the study. There was a significant decrease in mean basal plasma GH values with time from 14.8 +/- 2.2, 13.7 +/- 2.2, and 14.3 +/- 2.2 micrograms/l in the second week to 2.3 +/- 1, 0.7 +/- 0.4, and 1.8 +/- 0.7 microgram/l in the last week of the study for the high-, normal- and low-protein groups, respectively. Differences among groups were not significant. There was a positive correlation between the decrease in weekly body weight gain and plasma GH concentration in all 3 groups. IGF-I concentrations in plasma did not change consistently with age and were not correlated with plasma GH values. Significant differences in plasma IGF-I concentrations were found between groups at 15 weeks of age. Preliminary results of measurements of IGF receptors in the membranes of growth plate cartilage of long bones of 5 dogs revealed that homologous displacement of 125I-labeled IGF-I binding resulted in similar curves. A single binding site for IGF-I was assumed. The large number of type II IGF receptors in 7 dogs suggests a key role for IGF-II in postnatal skeletal growth. The results of this study demonstrate for the first time that in Great Dane pups basal GH concentrations in plasma decrease between 7 and 27 weeks of age, parallel to the decrease in growth velocity, whereas the plasma IGF-I concentrations remain relatively high and unchanged. The slight but statistically significant effects of low-protein feeding on growth velocity and circulating concentrations of IGF-I indicate that a diet containing 14.6% protein on a dry matter basis (13% protein as metabolizable energy) is marginal for growing Great Dane pups between 7 and 17 weeks of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Sciences of Companion Animals, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Nap
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Mol
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Hazewinkel
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004285:Dogs / Q000097:blood / Q000254:growth & development*; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000097:blood*; D006132:Growth Plate / Q000378:metabolism; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011863:Radioimmunoassay / Q000662:veterinary; D011897:Random Allocation; D017526:Receptor, IGF Type 1 / Q000378:metabolism; D017527:Receptor, IGF Type 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D004044:Dietary Proteins; D017527:Receptor, IGF Type 2; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D013006:Growth Hormone; D017526:Receptor, IGF Type 1