Rescue of the phenotype of PICK1-deficient mice by GH administration.

<p>(A) Lean body mass was evaluated by MRI scanning before GH administration and subsequently once every week both in PICK1-deficient mice (black squares) and in saline-treated WT littermates (white circles). Before treatment the difference between the two groups was highly significant (**<i>p</i> = 0.0027), after a week the difference decreased but was still significant (*<i>p</i> = 0.050), and after 2 and 3 wk no significant difference were observed. (B) IGF-1 mRNA level in the liver as determined by RT-PCR was significantly lower in PICK1-deficient mice compared to untreated mice (*<i>p</i> = 0.0045), however this difference was not observed after GH-treatment for 3 wk. (C) OGTT and ITT on GH-treated PICK1-deficient mice (black circles) and the saline-treated WT littermate controls (white circles). Significant difference was observed in the OGTT, whereas no difference was observed in ITT. Data are expressed as mean ± SE and analyzed by two-way ANOVA in (A) and Student's <i>t</i> test in (B–D) (<i>n</i> = 4–8 in all the experiments). All experiments have been reproduced in another cohort of mice (<i>n</i> = 3–4), where the age of the mice was 4 wk higher.