Chronic glucocorticoid therapy results in negative bone and connective tissue balance. To assess the effects of GH and a combination of IGF-I and GH, 24 healthy male volunteers received in a double blind fashion either recombinant human GH (0.3 IU/kg per day s.c.), or a combination of GH (0.3 IU/kg per day s.c.) and IGF-I (80 microgram/kg per day s.c.) or placebo (saline s.c.) during 6 days of methylprednisolone (0.5 mg/kg per day) treatment. Methylprednisolone decreased serum osteocalcin concentrations during placebo treatment from 32.9+/-2.1 to 9.0+/-1.4 microgram/l (P<0.0001), indicating diminished osteoblast activity, and procollagen type I (PICP) and procollagen type III (PIIINP) to 46 and 70% of baseline respectively (P<0.005), indicating diminished bone (PICP) and soft tissue collagen synthesis (PIIINP). Urinary excretion of pyridinoline, deoxypyridinoline and hydroxyproline increased during treatment with methylprednisolone alone, indicating increased bone resorption (P<0.05 or less). The combination of GH and IGF-I resulted in a significant blunting of the methylprednisolone effect on serum PICP and PIIINP concentrations (P<0.005 or less vs placebo); this effect was in part due to IGF-I, since serum PICP concentrations decreased less in the combination group than during GH treatment alone (P<0.05). In the groups receiving GH and GH combined with IGF-I, urinary hydroxyproline excretion increased more when compared with methylprednisolone alone (P<0.05 or less). These findings demonstrate that only the combination of GH and IGF-I, but not GH alone, markedly counteracts diminished bone and body collagen synthesis caused by glucocorticoids, whereas connective tissue resorption is enhanced during treatment with GH alone and in combination with IGF-I.

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