GH/IGF-I axis and matrix adaptation of the musculotendinous tissue to exercise in humans

Exercise is not only associated with adaptive responses within skeletal muscle fibers but also with induction of collagen synthesis both in muscle and adjacent connective tissue. Additionally, exercise and training leads to activation of the systemic growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor I axis (GH/IGF-I), as well as increased local IGF-I expression. Studies in humans with pathologically high levels of GH/IGF-I, and in healthy humans who receive either weeks of GH administration or acute injection of IGF-I into connective tissue, demonstrate increased expression and synthesis of collagen in muscle and tendon. These observations support a stimulatory effect of GH/IGF-I on the connective tissue in muscle and tendon, which appears far more potent than the effect on contractile proteins of skeletal muscle. However, GH/IGF-I may play an additional role in skeletal muscle by regulation of stem cells (satellite cells), as increased satellite cell numbers are found in human muscle with increased GH/IGF-I levels, despite no change in myofibrillar protein synthesis. Although advanced age is associated with both a reduction in the GH/IGF-I axis activity, and in skeletal muscle mass (sarcopenia) as well as in tendon connective tissue, there is no direct proof linking age-related changes in the musculotendinous tissue to an impaired GH/IGF-I axis.