The present study was done to determine the effect of age on muscle concentrations of mRNAs encoding two growth factors that are thought to be important regulators of muscle mass: insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and myostatin. Quantitative RT-PCR assays indicated that the mean IGF-1 mRNA concentration in older muscle (62-77 yr, n=15 men) was approximately 25% less, per ng total RNA (P<0.005), than in young adult muscle (21-31 yr, n=12 men). One third of the older men had IGF-1 mRNA levels below the lowest concentration observed in young muscle. Myostatin mRNA concentrations were similar in young and old muscle. Muscle mass and myofibrillar protein synthesis rates among eight older men did not correlate with either IGF-1 or myostatin mRNA levels. We conclude that IGF-1 gene expression in muscle tends to decline with normal aging. The functional significance is uncertain.