Growth hormone and bone mineral densitiy in HIV-1-infected male subjects.

The aim of this study was to characterize the GH-IGF-I axis of patients with HIV-1-infection without any symptoms of AIDS-associated wasting. A special emphasis was placed on determine bone mineral density (BMD) and biochemical markers of bone metabolism. Therefore 42 male fasting HIV-1-infected outpatients were included and estimation of serum GH, IGF-I, IGFBP-1 and 3, osteocalcin, TNF-alpha, 1,25dihydroxycholecalciferol, and endocrine markers of the gonad function by commercially available RIA's performed. DEXA-measurements of the lumbar spine and the Ward's triangle of the left hip were done. The GH, IGF-1, IGFBP-1 and 3 serum levels were within the normal range Performing Spearman-correlation test, we established significance between IGF-I serum levels and BMD lumbar spine and Ward's triangle (p < 0.01, p < 0.05), CD4 cell-count (p < 0.05), 1,25dihydroxycholecalciferol (p < 0.05), osteocalcin (p < 0.05), TNF-alpha (p < 0.05), body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.05) and total testosterone (p < 0.01). IGFBP-1 correlates both inversely significantly with CD4 cell-count (p < 0.05) and serum-calcium (p < 0.05). The IGFBP-3 correlates with BMI (p < 0.05) and serum osteocalcin (p < 0.05). Correlation both with markers of bone metabolism and vitamin D metabolites showed the important role of GH/IGF-I axis in modulating the availability of calcium in chronic conditions. This axis may be in a part responsible for the manifestation of the HIV-associated osteopenia.