<p>This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.</p> <p>The insulin like growth factors (IGF-I and -II) are structurally
and functionally related to insulin. While insulin is
a key regulator of glucose homeostasis over the short term,
emerging evidence suggests that the IGFs are involved in
the longer term glucose homeostasis, possibly by modulating
insulin sensitivity. Unlike insulin, the IGFs are present in
most biological fluids as complexes with high affinity binding
proteins, the insulin-like growth factor binding proteins
(IGFBPs). The IGFBPs regulate the bioavailability of the
IGFs. Of the six IGFBPs identified there is evidence from
studies in transgenic mice that both IGFBP-1 and IGFBP-3
may have a role in glucose regulation.</p>
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Exp Diabesity Res. 2003; 4(4):213-224