Insulin-like Growth Factor 1 Level and Its Relating Factor in Korean Healthy Adults / 가정의학회지

BACKGROUND: The concern about growth hormone, used for treatment of growth hormone deficiency, wasting diseases, is increasing recently. There is much to be desired about the study for the reference range of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) of Korean healthy adults, because there was a lack of studies of IGF-1 level. The authors investigated the concentration of IGF-1 according to age groups, and its correlation factors in healthy adults in Korea. METHODS: The subjects were 10,681 Korean healthy adults (5,263 females, 5,418 males) aged over 20 years, who visited the Department of Family Practice and Community Health in a university hospital from March 1998 to December 2003. We excluded the subjects with DM, liver diseases, renal diseases, thyroid diseases, and cancer. We measured the serum IGF-1, fasting glucose, lipid profile, serum albumin, protein, waist circumference, hip circumference, and body mass index. RESULTS: IGF-1 level showed gender difference (184.6 +/- 86.3 ng/mL for men, 178.6 +/- 91.8 ng/mL for women) and decreased significantly with age. Age was the most reliable correlation factor with IGF-1 (R: -0.325 for men, R: -0.463 for women). After adjusting fot age and weight, IGF-1 showed correlations with total protein, albumin, creatinine, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol for men and height, waist circumference, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, total protein, albumin, creatinine, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol for women. CONCLUSION: IGF-1 concentration decreased with age over 20 years old. It showed the highest correlation with age in both gender.

The Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome according to the Degree of Glucose Metabolism Impairment

BACKGROUND: The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of related cardiovascular risk factors and it is the cause of morbidity and mortality in cardiovascular diseases. Recently, new diagnostic criteria of glucose metabolism impairment has been recommended. The purpose of this study was to estimate the difference of cardiovascular risk by investigating the prevalence of metabolic syndrome according to the degree of glucose metabolism impairment. METHODS: A population of 757 subjects was selected from a database of individuals who visited a health promotion center. We classified these subjects into 5 groups [Normal, Isolated impaired glucose tolerance (I-IGT), Isolated impaired fasting glucose (I-IFG), combined IGT with IFG (IGT/IFG) and Diabetes]. We compared the general characteristics, Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in these groups. RESULTS: HOMA-IR and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the IGT/IFG and the Diabetes group were significantly greater than the Normal group. HOMA-IR and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome of the I-IGT and the I-IFG group were not significantly different with the Normal group. CONCLUSION: The insulin resistance and the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the IGT/IFG group was significantly greater than the Normal group, and its presence may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Therefore, it is important to control other combined metabolic disorders to prevent cardiovascular events after effective selection for IGT/ IFG.

Serum Homocysteine and Its Relevant Factors among Health Screeners in a University Hospital

BACKGROUND: Elevated plasma total homocysteine is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. The authors investigated the parameters such as habit, body index, cardiovascular risk factors, nutrition relative to the plasma homocysteine concentration. METHODS: The subjects were 6,223 adults (3,377 males, 2,846 females) who were over 18 years of age and visited a health promotion center of a university hospital from March 2002 to January 2003. We assessed the relationship between the homocysteine level and the following parameters: sex, age, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, smoking, alcohol, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP), triglyceride, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, creatinine, albumin and hemoglobin. RESULTS: The homocysteine levels was 10.5+/-5.9micromol/L in males, 7.3+/-2.6micromol/L in female. Thus it was significantly higher in males (P <0.001). After adjusting for variables that affect the homocysteine, the subjects over the age of 54 showed 10.7micromol/L (9.5, 12.0, 95% Confidence Interval), which was significantly (P=0.002) higher than the below the age of 38 groups 8.5micromol/L (7.8, 9.2, 95% CI). Non-smoking group showed 8.6micromol/L (8.4, 8.9, 95% CI), while over 28 pack-year group showed 9.6micromol/ L (9.2, 10.0, 95% CI), which was significantly (P <0.000) higher than the non-smoking groups. For the group with systolic BP over 132mmHg, it was 9.3micromol/L (8.8, 9.5, 95% CI). This was significantly (P=0.004) higher than 8.7micromol/L (8.4, 9.0, 95% CI) in the group whose systolic BP was less than 108 mmHg. The homocysteine was 10.4micromol/L (10.1, 11.7, 95% CI) for the group with creatinine over 1.0 mg/dL, which was significantly (P <0.000) higher than 7.9micromol/L (7.6, 8.2, 95% CI) in the group whose creatinine was less than 0.8 mg/dL. CONCLUSION: After adjusting for variables that affect the homocysteine, significant difference in its values was found between males and females. The homocysteine was significantly increased in the group whose age, systolic BP, amount of smoking, and creatinine were higher.