Cyclosporin a treatment is able to revert the decrease in circulating GH and IGF-I and the increase in IGFBPs induced...

The aim of this study was to find out whether cyclosporin A administration is able to revert the decrease in circulating growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and the increase in IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) levels caused by adjuvant-induced arthritis in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were intradermically injected with Freund's adjuvant or vehicle. Fourteen days later, rats were randomly divided into two groups - one injected with cyclosporin (15 mg/kg) and the other with vehicle from day 16 to 23 after adjuvant injection. Arthritis decreased body weight gain and serum concentrations of GH. Cyclosporin administration to arthritic rats prevented both effects, whereas cyclosporin had no effect in control rats. Arthritis decreased serum concentrations of IGF-I (p < 0.01), but increased IGFBPs. Cyclosporin administration increased circulating IGF-I, and there was a negative correlation between circulating IGF-I and arthritis index scores in arthritic rats injected with cyclosporin (p < 0.05). Cyclosporin treatment did not alter serum IGFBPs levels in control rats, whereas cyclosporin administration normalised IGFBPs in arthritic rats. These results indicate that the effects of cyclosporin administration on the GH-IGF-IGFBPs system may partly mediate its beneficial effect on body weight in arthritic rats.