Relationship Between Serum IGF-1 and BMI Differs by Age

Background: Serum levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and body mass index (BMI) are both associated with susceptibility to age-related diseases. Reports on the correlation between them have been conflicting, with both positive to negative correlations reported. However, the age ranges of the participants varied widely among these studies. Methods: Using data on 4241 participants (aged 24-110) from the Long Life Family Study, we investigated the relationship between IGF-1 and BMI by age groups using regression analysis. Results: When stratified by age quartile, the relationship between IGF-1 and BMI varied: in the first quartile (Q1, 20-58 years) the relationship was negative (beta = -0.2, p = .002); in Q2 (58-66 years) and Q3 (67-86 years) the relationship was negative (beta = -0.07, beta = -0.01, respectively) but nonsignificant; and in Q4 (87-110 years) the relationship was positive (beta = 0.31, p = .0002). This pattern did not differ by sex. We observed a similar age-related pattern between IGF-1 and BMI among participants in the third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey. Conclusions: Our results that the relationship between IGF-1 and BMI differs by age may explain some of the inconsistency in reports about their relationship and encourage additional studies to understand the mechanisms underlying it.

Automated summary

The relationship between IGF-1 and BMI varies with age, which may explain the inconsistency in previous reports and highlights the need for further research to understand the underlying mechanisms.