Dexamethasone stabilizes IGFBP-1 mRNA in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes.

We have shown that dexamethasone stimulates insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 (IGFBP-1) production due to an increase in IGFBP-1 mRNA content in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. In the present study, we investigated the effect of dexamethasone on the stabilization of IGFBP-1 mRNA in this system. We found that dexamethasone stabilized IGFBP-1 mRNA from the dot blot analysis with actinomycin D in the culture medium. It is suggested that the stabilization of IGFBP-1 mRNA is one of the mechanisms in which IGFBP-1 mRNA increases during dexamethasone treatment in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes.