Growth Factor Makes a Comeback in Cystic Fibrosis

The stunted development common to cystic fibrosis begins at birth — and could be a direct consequence of a growth-hormone deficiency caused by the disease.In both people and pigs, newborns with cystic fibrosis tend to have abnormally low levels of a hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), according to a study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Unlike in healthy controls, in mutant pigs IGF1 levels do not increase over time.Read more at...Nature, November 2010.