Background: Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) has specific effects on axonal growth and myelination, low CSF IGF-1 levels being found in some severe neurologic diseases. We studied the levels of CSF IGF-1 and IGF binding protein-2 (IGFBP-2) in children with ALL to find out whether these levels correlated with any of the neurological deficits observed.
Methods: IGF-1 and IGFBP-2 levels were prospectively measured by radioimmunoassay in the CSF of 14 children with ALL throughout the ALL chemotherapy. These were compared with the levels of 16 control subjects and of patient groups with severe neurological diseases.
Results: During induction, the children with ALL had subnormal CSF IGF-1 levels which improved after 2 months. In seven individuals, two with severe vincristine polyneuropathy, the subnormal levels persisted throughout the chemotherapy.
Conclusions: Our findings suggest impairment of the IGF-1 trophic system during induction by a mechanism so far unknown. Correlation with disturbed neuronal function could not be statistically proven.
Copyright 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.