All issues > Volume 42(3); 1999

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1999;42(3):390-396. Published online March 15, 1999.

Serum Levels of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-Ⅰ and Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 between Short Children with or without Intrauterine Growth Retardation

Kye Shik KS Shim¹, Se Young SY Kim¹, Choong Ho CH Shin¹, Sei Won SW Yang¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Purpose
: Postnatally, 20% of children with intrauterine growth retardation(IUGR) has no catch- up growth, This might be dependent on the serum level of Insulin-like growth factor I(IGF-I), resulting in shortness. We measured serum levels of IGF-I and Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3(IGFBP-3) in children with IUGR and normal short stature variants(NSSV) to observe whether they play a role in catch-up growth for children with IUGR or not.
Methods
: Our study included 19 children with IUGR and 15 children with NSSV. We measured height, bone age, serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 using ELISA kit.
Results
: Mean age of IUGR and NSSV were 6.25¡¾1.75 and 6.32¡¾1.75 years, respectively. All of them were prepubertal. The height standard deviation score in IUGR and NSSV were -2.36¡¾1.01 and -1.38¡¾0.51, respectively(P<0.05). Serum IGF-I levels in IUGR and NSSV were 77.12¡¾78.04ng/mL and 113.99¡¾103.13ng/mL, respectively(P>0.05) and serum IGFBP-3 levels in IUGR and NSSV were 3441¡¾1358ng/mL and 4553¡¾3345ng/mL, respectively(P>0.05). In children younger than 5years old, serum IGF-I levels in IUGR and NSSV were 52.71¡¾35.3ng/mL and 107.75¡¾61.6ng/mL, respectively(P<0.05) and serum IGFBP-3 levels in IUGR and NSSV were 3028¡¾418.4 ng/mL and 4589¡¾2684ng/mL, respectively(P>0.05). There were significant correlations between height standard deviation scores and serum IGF-I levels in children with IUGR under the age of 5 years(r=0.60, P<0.05), also height standard deviation scores and serum IGFBP-3 levels in children with IUGR and NSSV under the age of 5 years(r=0.50, P<0.05, r=0.52, P<0.05, respectively).
Conclusion
: The results suggest that low levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 do not cause short stature in children with IUGR. However, low levels of IGF-I probably cause short stature in infancy and early childhood with IUGR, which remains to be clarified with further study.

Keywords :Intrauterine growth retardation, Short stature, IGF-I, IGFBP-3