Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 May 18;16(5):760.
doi: 10.3390/ph16050760.

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) Related Drugs in Pain Management

Seokhyun Jin  1 , Jianguo Cheng  1   2   3
Affiliations
Review

Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) Related Drugs in Pain Management

Seokhyun Jin et al. Pharmaceuticals (Basel). .

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this review is to explore the role of IGF-1 and IGF-1R inhibitors in pain-related conditions and assess the effectiveness of IGF-1-related drugs in pain management. Specifically, this paper investigates the potential involvement of IGF-1 in nociception, nerve regeneration, and the development of neuropathic pain. Methods. We conducted a search of the PUBMED/MEDLINE database, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library for all reports published in English on IGF-1 in pain management from origination through November 2022. The resulting 545 articles were screened, and 18 articles were found to be relevant after reading abstracts. After further examination of the full text of these articles, ten were included in the analysis and discussion. The levels of clinical evidence and implications for recommendations of all the included human studies were graded. Results. The search yielded 545 articles, of which 316 articles were deemed irrelevant by reading the titles. There were 18 articles deemed relevant after reading abstracts, of which 8 of the reports were excluded due to lack of IGF-1-related drug treatment after reviewing the full text of the articles. All ten articles were retrieved for analysis and discussion. We found that IGF-1 may have several positive effects on pain management, including promoting the resolution of hyperalgesia, preventing chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, reversing neuronal hyperactivity, and elevating the nociceptive threshold. On the other hand, IGF-1R inhibitors may alleviate pain in mice with injury of the sciatic nerve, bone cancer pain, and endometriosis-induced hyperalgesia. While one study showed marked improvement in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy in humans treated with IGF-1R inhibitor, two other studies did not find any benefits from IGF-1 treatment. Conclusions. This review highlights the potential of IGF-1 and IGF-1R inhibitors in pain management, but further research is needed to fully understand their efficacy and potential side effects.

Keywords: IGF-1; IGF-1R inhibitor; pain management.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram of literature search and process of inclusion/exclusion of articles.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Institute of Medicine . Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research. The National Academies Press; Washington, DC, USA: 2011. pp. 1–364. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Denko C.W., Malemud C.J. Role of the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 paracrine axis in rheumatic diseases. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2005;35:24–34. doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2005.03.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leal-Cerro A., Povedano J., Astorga R., Gonzalez M., Silva H., García-Pesquera F., Casanueva F.F., Diéguez C. The growth hormone (GH)-releasing hormone-GH-insulin-like growth factor-1 axis in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 1999;84:3378–3381. doi: 10.1210/jc.84.9.3378. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dubick M.N., Ravin T.H., Michel Y., Morrisette D.C. Use of localized human growth hormone and testosterone injections in addition to manual therapy and exercise for lower back pain: A case series with 12-month follow-up. J. Pain Res. 2015;8:295–302. doi: 10.2147/JPR.S81078. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bennett R.M., Clark S.C., Walczyk J. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of growth hormone in the treatment of fibromyalgia. Am. J. Med. 1998;104:227–231. doi: 10.1016/S0002-9343(97)00351-3. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources