Abstract. The aim: to study the level of the insulin-like growth factor IGF-I in the peripheral blood, to assess bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with Crohn’s disease (CD), and to establish a possible relationship between the studied parameters.
Material and methods. We examined 35 patients with different clinical Crohn’s disease (CD) activity in the course of treatment. ELISA performed determination of IGF-I in peripheral blood. To assess the state of the bone tissue, we used L2–L4 spine densitometry on X-ray densitometers DPX-NT GE, equipped with the computer analytical program.
Results. It was found that the active stage of CD, the levels of IGF-I and bone mineral density (BMD) are reduced. In order to study the possible effect of the peptide growth factor IGF-1 on bone mineral density, we studied the production of this peptide in groups of CD patients with osteopenia and osteoporosis. It turned out that the level of IGF-1 was significantly lower in the group of patients with osteoporosis.
Conclusion. The performed regression and correlation analyzes revealed a positive moderate dependence of the BMD index on the IGF-I content in the peripheral blood. Clinical remission of CD within 12 months was accompanied by an increase in IGF-I production and an increase in BMD.

Keywords: Crohn’s disease, insulin-like growth factor, bone mineral density, tumor necrosis factor alpha