title: Diverse roles of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 in mammalian aging: progress and controversies.
abstract: Because the initial reports demonstrating that circulating growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 decrease with age in laboratory animals and humans, there have been numerous studies related to the importance of these hormones for healthy aging. Nevertheless, the role of these potent anabolic hormones in the genesis of the aging phenotype remains controversial. In this chapter, we review the studies demonstrating the beneficial and deleterious effects of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 deficiency and explore their effects on specific tissues and pathology as well as their potentially unique effects early during development. Based on this review, we conclude that the perceived contradictory roles of growth hormone and insulin-like growth factor-1 in the genesis of the aging phenotype should not be interpreted as a controversy on whether growth hormone or insulin-like growth factor-1 increases or decreases life span but rather as an opportunity to explore the complex roles of these hormones during specific stages of the life span.
authors.affiliation: Reynolds Oklahoma Center on Aging, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Stanton L. Young Biomedical Research Center 1303, 975 NE 10th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 74104, USA. william-sonntag@ouhsc.edu
authors.forename: William E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Sonntag
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Csiszar
authors.forename: Raphael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: deCabo
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ferrucci
authors.forename: Zoltan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ungvari
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D013006:Growth Hormone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000378:metabolism; D018969:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008136:Longevity / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D007328:Insulin; D018969:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Proteins; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D013006:Growth Hormone