Insulin-like growth factor-I in Helicobacter pylori gastritis and response to eradication using bismuth based triple therapy.

To measure insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) concentrations in the presence and absence of Helicobacter pylori infection and in response to eradication of the organism.An enzyme linked immunosorbent assay was used to measure gastric and fasting serum concentrations of IGF-I in 17 patients with and 11 without H pylori infection. Repeat assessments were performed in the infected patients six weeks after they received a two week course of bismuth chelate, metronidazole, and amoxycillin.IGF-I was detected at very low concentrations in gastric juice and in mucosal incubates. The median serum IGF-I concentration was 88 micrograms/l in the patients infected with H pylori compared with 90 micrograms/l in the non-infected controls; IGF-I concentrations dropped to 77 micrograms/l following eradication therapy (p = 0.014).The similarity in baseline IGF-I concentrations in the presence and absence of H pylori suggests that their subsequent drop after treatment is more likely to be due to the treatment.