Objective: To investigate growth factors influencing bone and cartilage in patients with diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH).
Methods: Standard radioimmunoassays (INCSTAR, Stillwater, MN) quantified serum levels of insulin, insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and growth hormone (GH) in patients with DISH, in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and in controls. Patients with DISH with comorbidity with obesity, hypertension, diabetes and coronary artery disease, also were studied.
Results: Patients with DISH demonstrated normal IGF-I levels; patients with OA had reduced IGF-I levels. Subjects with DISH or OA had elevated insulin and GH values. Patients with DISH with comorbidity had changes in growth factors similar to those found in patients with DISH only. There is frequent association of DISH with obesity, hypertension, coronary artery disease and diabetes mellitus suggesting that these associations are not random.
Conclusion: Specific associations of skeletal abnormalities with clinical features in which skeletal change and clinical features combine with disturbances of insulin, IGF-I and GH exist in DISH that are distinct from OA. DISH is considered a multisystemic hormonal disorder with protean presentations.