PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Frysak, Zdenek
AU  - Schovanek, Jan
AU  - Iacobone, Maurizio
AU  - Karasek, David
TI  - Insulin-like Growth Factors in a clinical setting: Review of IGF-I
DP  - 2015 Sep 30
TA  - Biomedical papers
PG  - 347--351
VI  - 159
IP  - 3
AID - 10.5507/bp.2015.041
IS  - 12138118
AB  - Background and Aims: Interest in growth hormone (GH) is inextricably linked to the need for in depth understanding of the somatomedins (insulin-like growth factors) which are polypeptides structurally similar to insulin and with broad physiological activity. To date, the most commonly known is Insulin-Like Growth Factor I (IGF-I). Despite considerable current knowledge of IGF-I, however, its bioactivity is incompletely understood. Measurement of IGF-I is of the utmost importance in the diagnosis and treatment of, for example acromegaly and growth hormone deficiency. The development of recombinant IGF-I, has allowed its use in such cases. Clinical practice, however, shows that few young/adult patients will benefit from treatment with the rIGF-I, mecasermin, given the number of adverse effects found. This review focuses on current knowledge mainly related to IGF-I and the use of its recombinant form (rIGF-I) in clinical practice. Several functions of IGI-II have been elucidated but their clinical significance is unclear.