From research of non-suppressible serum insulin activity to the clinical application of recombinant insulin-like growth factor (rhIGF-I)
Froesch, E.R.
Schweizerische Medizinische Wochenschrift 125(27-28): 1326-1335
1995
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-7672 PMID: 7624742 Document Number: 447110
The meandering and sometimes painful journey from the discovery of non-suppressible insulin-like activity in serum to the chemical, biological and physiological characterization and biotechnological production of the two peptide hormones which are responsible for this plasma activity, i.e. IGF-I and IGF-II, is described. IGF-I is the major mediator of most activities of pituitary growth hormone and is therapeutically used for the stimulation of growth in growth hormone-insensitive (Laron) dwarfs and for the treatment of type A insulin-resistant diabetics with non-functional insulin receptors. IGF-I and -II are not only endocrine hormones but also important locally produced peptides that act on cell differentiation during embryogenesis and on the regeneration of tissues during adult life via the autocrine/paracrine pathway. IGF research, chiefly in Zürich, serves as a basis on which to discuss more general aspects of the training of medical doctors and research structures in Switzerland.