Usefulness of Insulin-like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 Levels to Determine Acromegaly Activity and Effectiveness of Transsphenoidal Pituitary Surgery

Background l series reported in the literature concerning the results of the treatment of acromegaly have been difficult to evaluate because the indicators are inaccurate s estigated the usefulness of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP) levels to determine disease activity after surgical treatment of acromegaly in 13 patients with confirmed somatotroph adenoma. s surgery, all 13 non-treated patients had elevated serum levels of IGFBP-3 as well as total and free IGF-I. In addition, there was no overlap with the normal controls (p <0.001). IGFBP-3 levels correlated significantly (0.91, p <0.001) with GH suppressibility by glucose after surgery. sions data confirm that IGFBP-3 is a better indicator of acromegalic activity than either total or free IGF-I. There was a high correlation with GH suppressibility by glucose after surgery; both free and total IGF-I could be considered sensitive markers only for diagnosis of active acromegaly but not for efficacy of surgery.