Roberta Saleri ^a, Mario Baratta ^a, Gian Luca Mainardi ^a, Robert Renaville ^b, Andrea Giustina ^c, Fausto Quintavalla ^d, Carlo Tamanini a*

a - Istituto di Fisiologia Veterinaria, Università di Parma, Italy;
b - Département de Biologie Moléculaire et Physiologie Animale, Faculté d’Agronomie, Gembloux, Belgium;
c - Clinica Medica, Università di Brescia, Italy; d Istituto di Clinica Medica Veterinaria, Università di Parma, Italy.
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-0521-902775; fax: +39-0521-902770. E-mail address: vetfisio@unipr.it Running head: IGF-I, IGFBP-2 and -3 and GH in piglets.

ABSTRACT. In this study we investigate the somatotropic axis in piglets with evident growth delay. Female Suffolk crossbred piglets (30 days old; N=12) were divided into normal weight (10±0.9 kg) and poor growing subjects (7±0.5 kg) and bled for growth hormone (GH), Insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), Insulin-like growth factor binding protein 2 and 3 (IGFBP-2 and -3) determination. Basal and induced-GH levels were not different in the groups. Plasma IGF-I concentrations were significantly different (p<0.001): 101.8±9.8 ng/ml (normal weight group) and 39.5±4.0 ng/ml (poor growing group). IGFBP-2 and -3 concentrations were significantly (p<0.001) lower in poor growing than in normal piglets. Piglet weight was positively correlated (r=0.98, p<0.001) with IGF-I and IGFBP-2 or -3 concentrations. Our data indicate that growth rate was not correlated to basal or secretagogue-induced GH secretion.