There is evidence that melatonin may play a role in modulating pituitary secretion, although the mechanisms are unclear. We examined the effects of a single dose of oral melatonin (5mg) on exercise-induced GH secretion. In a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, seven healthy male subjects undertook an initial period of graded bicycle ergometric exercise to determine maximum workl...

OBJECTIVES It is unclear whether insulin-like growth factor (IGF) function is involved in the pathophysiology of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Unpublished data and reports in patient organization newsletters suggest that Acclydine, a food supplement, could be effective in the treatment of CFS by increasing biologically active IGF1 levels. Here we aimed to measure the IGF1 and IGF binding prot...

Persistent hypoxia can cause pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) that may be associated with significant remodeling of the pulmonary arteries, including smooth muscle cell proliferation and hypertrophy. We previously demonstrated that the NADPH oxidase homologue NOX4 mediates human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cell (HPASMC) proliferation by transforming growth factorβ1 (TGF-β1). We now show...

BACKGROUND The acid-labile subunit (ALS) acts in the insulin-like growth (IGF) system by binding circulating IGF-I in a ternary complex with binding protein (IGFBP)-3 to prevent IGF-I from crossing the endothelial barrier. Given the role of the IGF system in prostate cancer, ALS may influence carcinogenesis by modulating IGF-I levels or bioavailability. METHODS We undertook a prospective stud...

To identify circadian patterns of gene expression in skeletal muscle, adult male zebrafish were acclimated for 2 wk to a 12:12-h light-dark photoperiod and then exposed to continuous darkness for 86 h with ad libitum feeding. The increase in gut food content associated with the subjective light period was much diminished by the third cycle, enabling feeding and circadian rhythms to be distingui...

Several studies suggest that neutralizing acid load in the diet with alkali had favorable effects on intermediate markers of musculoskeletal health. We examined whether alkali supplementation with potassium bicarbonate [(KHCO3); 81 mmol/d; n = 12] vs placebo (n = 12) for 84 days altered serum microRNAs, potential biomarkers associated with innumerable biological processes including bone and mus...

is activated after ligand binding of insulin, igf-1, or igf-2. Receptor stimulation leads to autophosphorylation of tyrosine residues and drives the activation of downstream signalling pathways, including the mapk (mitogen-activated protein kinase) and pi3k (phosphatidylinositol 3–kinase) cascades, which serve to influence key cell survival and proliferation pathways. The igfs are multifunction...

BACKGROUND GnRH analogue (GnRHa) combined with GH treatment has been proposed to increase adult height. Effect on metabolic profile and GH, IGF1, and IGFBP3 levels in short small for gestational age (SGA) children is unknown. OBJECTIVE To assess fat mass and lean body mass SDS, percentage trunk fat, blood pressure (BP), insulin sensitivity (Si), beta-cell function (disposition index, DI), lip...

PURPOSE This study sought to explore the predictive value of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) binding proteins (IGFBP) as markers of response in ovarian cancer patients treated with the aromatase inhibitor letrozole. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN IGFBP mRNA expression in cell lines was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and IGFBP protein expression measured in sections from primary ...