The correlation of serum IGF-1 levels with lower extremity atherosclerotic disease in type 2 diabetes patients

Abstract Objective: Clinical and basic studies have indicated the close association between Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and cardiovascular disease, however, the relationship between IGF-1 and lower extremity atherosclerotic disease (LEAD) has rarely been reported. Given that lower extremity arterial disease is the common macrocomplication of type 2 diabetes(T2DM), the purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between serum Insulin-like growth factor-1 levels and the presence of lower extremity atherosclerotic disease in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Methods: A total of 442 hospitalized T2DM patients(371 with LEAD and 71 without LEAD) were enrolled in the study. Serum IGF-1 levels were determined by an automatic chemiluminescence assay. The LEAD was evaluated through color doppler ultrasonography. Results: Compared with patients without LEAD, patients with LEAD exhibited much lower serum IGF-1 levels [115.4 ng/mL (interquartile range = 89.6-145.2 n g/ml) versus 124 ng/mL (interquartile range = 101.3-161.5 ng/mL), repectively, P = 0.03]. Multivariate line regression analysis identified that serum IGF-1 levels were independently and negatively related to age (standardiazed β = -0.208, P <0.001) and gender (standardiazed β = -0.126, P = 0.019). However, multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that serum IGF-1 level has no significantly relationship with the presense LEAD with OR value of 0.993 in the total population.Conclusion: In T2DM patients, though low serum IGF-1 levels were found in LEAD patients, the IGF-1 may not contribute to the presence of LEAD.