Insulin-like growth factor I effect on the number of osteoblast progenitors is impaired in ovariectomized mice.

Because insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I is an important regulator of bone formation, we proposed the hypothesis that IGF-I could contribute in regulating the number of osteoblast progenitors (colony-forming unit fibroblast with ALP activity [CFU-F/ALP+]). To test ex vivo and in vivo effects of IGF-I on the number of CFU-F/ALP+, bone marrow cells (BMCs) derived from normal mice, growth hormone (GH)-deficient lit/lit mice, or ovariectomized (OVX) mice were cultured and the CFU-F/ALP+ number was counted. Ex vivo treatment of IGF-I increased the CFU-F/ALP+ number in a dose-dependent manner compared with vehicle-treated control cultures.