GH --> hyperglycemia; IGF --> hypoglycemia?

[cameraGEEK]

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Is this true: GH --> hyperglycemia; IGF --> hypoglycemia?

If so, then what is the point of this? It seems like GH increases IGF to give its opposite effect? In addition, why would someone with high GH have hyperglycemia if IGF is also there to counteract its effects?

 

[gravitywave]

it has to do with the response to fasting. in the well-fed state, GH and IGFs work together to maintain blood sugar balance and promote anabolic processes. in fasting, GH levels go up, but the liver stops releasing IGFs in response and starts to burn fat for fuel, both as an effort to conserve glucose for heart and brain.

GH levels are very elevated in prolonged fasting because of the glucose-sparing effect, which seems counterintuitive until you realize that the only reason we think of "growth" necessarily with GH is because someone put it in the name 🙂

High GH in the case of a pituitary adenoma would be insensitive to release inhibition by IGF, so you always have lots of GH around whether liver is making it or not, hence insulin-sensitive tissue becomes glucose intolerant.