title: Urinary insulin-like growth factor I in athletes, before and after physical exercise, and in sedentary subjects.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), like growth hormone (GH), is excreted in urine in a smaller fraction than the concentration found in blood. Exercising subjects undergo post-exercise proteinuria. The present work aims to propose a method for urinary IGF-I analysis (uIGF-I) by defining urinary concentration in sedentary individuals and athletes before and after strenuous exercise.
  
  
  METHODS
  Urine samples were collected from 30 sedentary healthy male individuals during the morning and from 30 well-trained cyclists, before and after a competition of about 3 h (150 km). uIGF-I was measured in undiluted acidified urine by radioimmunoassay (RIA) method using a purified polyclonal rabbit antibody, human 125I-IGF-I and a second anti-rabbit antiserum. The acidification of the urine samples and the excess of IGF-II addition in the incubation medium of the assay were used to dissociate the binding and to block the interference from IGF binding proteins (IGFBPs). Urinary growth hormone (uGH), total protein (utPr) and creatinine (ucr) concentrations were also measured by immunoradiometric assay (IRMA), colorimetric and capillary electrophoresis methods, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analysis range was 0-2500 ng/l (0-327 pmol/l), the intra- and inter-assay coefficients of variations (CVs) ranged from 2.3% to 7.8%, respectively. The detection limit was 0.6 pg/tube. The uIGF-I/creatinine (cr) ratio in healthy subjects was 70 +/- 8 pg/mg cr. The uIGF-I/creatinine ratio (pg/mg cr) was different (p<0.001) in athletes before vs. after competition 93 +/- 27 vs. 136 +/- 13. Athletes' [uIGF-I/total proteins] ratio (ng/mg tPr) before and post-exercise was 2.3 +/- 0.5 and 2.5 +/- 0.3, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  uIGF-I assay appears to be an effective way of monitoring IGF-I excretion. In the cyclists, in the pre-exercise state, uIGF-I was comparable with that measured in sedentary healthy individuals. In the cyclists, after strenuous exercise, the increased uIGF-I/cr and uGH/cr ratios suggested a relation with the post-exercise proteinuria. In conclusion, proteinuria physiologically obtained, such as post-exercise proteinuria, might be a new approach in IGF-I system investigation.
authors.affiliation: Section of Clinical Biochemistry, Department of Medical Diagnostic Sciences and Special Therapies, University of Padova-Medical School, Via Ospedale 105, 35128 Padua, Italy. eliof.depalo@unipd.it
authors.forename: Elio F
authors.initials: EF
authors.lastname: De Palo
authors.forename: Rosalba
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gatti
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lancerin
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cappellin
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Soldà
authors.forename: Carlo B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: De Palo
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Spinella
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001642:Bicycling; D002138:Calibration; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000652:urine*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012146:Rest / Q000502:physiology; D016482:Urinalysis
chemical_list: D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D003404:Creatinine