IGF-1 is a biomarker that is often used to assess the amount of growth hormone in the body. Growth hormone is an anabolic hormone that is essential for building and sustaining muscle strength and promoting emotional well being.

Many of the symptoms of growth hormone deficiency, such as low energy, depression, impaired cognition, poor general health, reduced exercise capacity, muscle weakness, and cold intolerance, are also common to fibromyalgia. This has led researchers to examine the role that diminished IGF-1 levels may play in the condition.

A recent study by investigators from the Oregon Health Sciences University Department of Medicine concluded that "many, but not all, patients with FM have low levels of IGF-1 that cannot be explained by clinical associations."1 After measuring IGF-1 levels in 500 patients with FM and 152 healthy controls, they found that average levels of IGF-1 were more than 35% lower in fibromyalgia patients. They also found that patients who initially had normal levels often experienced a rapid decline in circulating IGF-I over the next one to two years.

Low IGF-1 levels did not appear to be associated with medications used to treat the condition. Instead, the researchers believed IGF-1 deficiency in fibromyalgia probably developed in response to a derangement in the central nervous system and hormonal stress response (i.e., hypothalamic-pituitary-GH axis dysfunction.)1

Clinical investigations conducted by other researchers have tended to support these results, consistently reporting low levels of IGF-1 and/or growth hormone in many patients with fibromyalgia.2,3 A recent randomized, double-blind treatment trial of growth hormone supplementation in fibromyalgia patients with low IGF-1 levels showed promising results. Fifty women with fibromyalgia and low IGF-1 levels were treated with growth hormone for nine months. As the patents levels of IGF-1 rose, many clinical improvements were observed, including a reduction in overall symptoms and a decrease in the number of tender points.4 "This suggests that a secondary growth hormone deficiency may be responsible for some of the symptoms of fibromyalgia," the study concluded.

Since indiscriminate treatment with growth hormone may result in excess levels that can pose health risks, baseline assessment and monitoring of IGF-1 levels is important when using growth hormone therapy to treat patients. IGF-1 Assessment, a serum analysis of IGF-1, can be used to identify which patients with fibromyalgia have deficiencies that may respond favorably to clinical intervention. The test is also important for monitoring the safety and effectiveness of treatments.

References:
1 Bennett RM, Cook DM, Clark SR, Burckhardt CS, Campbell SM. Hypothalamic-pituitary-insulin-like growth factor-I axis dysfunction in patients with fibromyalgia. J Rheumatol 1997 Jul;24(7):1384-9.

2 Berwaerts J, Moorkens G, Abs R. Secretion of growth hormone in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. Growth Horm IGF Res 1998 Apr;8 Suppl B:127-9.

3 Neeck G. Neuroendocrine and hormonal perturbations and relations to the serotonergic system in fibromyalgia patients. Scand J Rheumatol Suppl 2000;113:8-12.

4 Bennett RM, Clark SC, Walczyk J. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of growth hormone in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Am J Med 1998 Mar;104(3):227-31.


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