SUPPRESSION OF THE GROWTH HORMONE/INSULIN-LIKE GROWTH FACTOR-1 (GH/IGF-1) AXI

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. This is a 6-month, open label, pilot study in pre-menopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) of less than 3 years duration to be conducted at the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) of the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore, MD and the Clinical Center of National Institutes of Health. This investigation will explore the possible impact of systematically released inflammatory cytokines on suppression of the GH/IGF-1 axis, and the relationships of altered endocrine-immune function with body composition, metabolic and vascular functions thought to be associated with RA-related sarcopenia, osteopenia, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In phase I of the study, we shall admit RA patients and control subjects to the Clinical Center for a 36 hour period for assessments of the GH/IGF-1 axis, cytokines, body composition, endocrine-metabolic and cardiovascular functions, and quality of life. In Phase II of the study, we shall re-evaluate the above outcome measures after six months of treatment of the RA patients with Etanercept, a soluble p75 TNF receptor molecule, which has recently been approved by the FDA for the treatment of patients with early RA.