Decreased circulating growth hormone levels following centrally administered insulin-like growth factor-1 is not mediated by somatostatin in the pig fetus.

Twenty-six pig fetuses (at 94 days gestational age) were fitted with carotid artery catheters. Eight fetuses were given 1,500 ng of IGF-1 (in 100 microliters) directly into lateral cerebral ventricle; 7 further fetuses received the IGF-1 together with 150 microliters of a potent specific anti-somatostatin serum into a ventricle, 5 other fetuses received the anti-somatostatin serum alone while 6 controls received normal sheep serum. Administration of IGF-1 caused a rapid decrease in circulating growth hormone (pGH) levels but there was no significant change in plasma levels of somatostatin immediately following the IGF-1 administration, suggesting that the decrease in pGH was not mediated by somatostatin secretion. Further evidence that somatostatin was not involved in this effect was provided by the lack of effect of concurrent antisomatostatin serum on the IGF-1-induced decrease in pGH. Thus the high circulating levels of GH in the fetus may result from a lack of feedback of IGF-1, but not through the somatostatin-pituitary axis.