High (pharmacological) doses of glucocorticoids inhibit the proliferation of growth plate chondrocytes, which leads to one of the side-effects of these steroids, namely suppression of longitudinal growth. Growth inhibition by glucocorticoids is thought to be mediated in part by impaired action of components of the IGF axis, which are important for chondrocyte regulation and hence for longitudinal growth. The aim of the present study was to determine whether glucocorticoid-induced growth retardation involves changes in IGF axis components. Chondrocytes were isolated from epiphyseal growth plates of neonatal piglets and treated with pharmacological doses of dexamethasone (DXM) for 24 h to study glucocorticoid-induced growth retardation. Under IGF-I-supplemented (10 nM) culture conditions, IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs)-2, -4 and -5 were secreted by the growth plate chondrocytes and IGFBP-2 protein and mRNA levels were decreased by the DXM treatment, whereas IGFBP-4 and -5 were not affected. Proliferation of the chondrocytes, as measured by [(3)H]thymidine incorporation, was 3.5-fold higher in serum-supplemented medium in contrast to IGF-I-supplemented (10 nM) medium. In the presence of serum, DNA synthesis was significantly inhibited by 50-63% when treated with 100 nM DXM, which was prevented by the glucocorticoid-receptor antagonist Org34116. mRNA levels of IGF axis components were determined using Northern blot analysis. IGFBP-2 to -6 were expressed in the chondrocytes, IGFBP-1 was absent and both IGF-I and IGF-II, and the type I and type II IGF receptors were expressed. Treatment with DXM (100 nM) resulted in a 2-fold increase in mRNA levels of both IGFBP-5 and the type I IGF receptor, whereas IGFBP-2 mRNA levels decreased by 55%, in concert with the decrease in protein level observed under IGF-I-supplemented culture conditions. The changes in mRNA levels due to the DXM treatment were prevented by the glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. Our data show that exposure to pharmacological doses of DXM results in inhibition of proliferation and changes in components of the IGF axis, IGFBP-2 and -5 and the type I IGF receptor, suggesting a role for these components in glucocorticoid-induced growth retardation at the local level of the growth plate.