Chronic alcohol consumption, type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and growth hormone (GH) in ethanol-treated diabetic rats.

AIMS Alcohol has deleterious influences on glucose metabolism which may contribute to the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) and growth hormone (GH), which interact with insulin to modulate metabolic control, have been shown to be related to impaired glucose tolerance. This study was conducted to assess the possibility that altered circulating IGF-I and GH levels contribute to the exacerbation of T2DM by alcohol use in type 2 diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty (OLETF) rats and non-diabetic Long-Evans Tokushima Otsuka (LETO) rats. MAIN METHOD OLETF rats were pair-fed a Lieber-DeCarli Regular Ethanol diet and LETO rats were pair-fed a control diet for 6 weeks. At 6 weeks, an Intraperitoneal Glucose Tolerance Test (IP-GTT) was performed and IGF-I and GH levels were evaluated. KEY FINDINGS Prior to an IP-GTT, OLETF-Ethanol (O-E) group had significantly a decrease in the mean glucose levels compared to OLETF-Control (O-C) group. At 120 min post IP-GTT, the O-E group had significantly an increase in the mean glucose levels compared to O-C group. The serum IGF-I levels were significantly lower and the serum GH levels were significantly higher in the O-E group than in L-C group. SIGNIFICANCE These results suggest that IGF-I and GH are prominent in defining the risk and development of T2DM, and may be adversely affected by heavy alcohol use, possibly mediating its diabetogenic effects. Thus, the overall glucose intolerance in the setting of alcoholism may be attributable to inappropriate alteration of IGF-I and GH levels.