ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Endocrinol.
Sec. Pediatric Endocrinology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1579107
Association of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 with metabolic abnormalities among children and adolescents
Provisionally accepted
- 1Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
- 2Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, China
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Background and Objective: Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) play roles in growth and development, but their association with metabolic abnormalities in children and adolescents remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between IGF-1, IGFBP-3, and metabolic abnormalities in Chinese children and adolescents, while assessing the role of age in these associations.Methods: Participants were categorized into low-risk and high-risk groups based on metabolic abnormality criteria. Demographic, anthropometric, and laboratory data were collected via medical records. Logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).Results: Data from 588 participants were analyzed. Higher IGF-1 (Q4: OR 0.24, 95% CI: 0.11-0.51) and IGFBP-3 levels (Q4: OR 0.38, 95% CI: 0.18-0.76) were associated with lower odds of metabolic abnormalities. Higher IGF-1/IGFBP-3 ratios also reduced metabolic abnormality risk. Age-related trends showed IGF-1 levels plateaued with age, while IGFBP-3 progressively increased, with the low-risk group consistently maintaining higher levels.Conclusions: Higher IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels are negatively associated with metabolic abnormalities in children and adolescents. Maintaining the balance of these factors is critical for metabolic health, especially during adolescence.
Keywords: insulin-like growth factor-1, Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, Adolescent, Children, Metabolic abnormalities
Received: 18 Feb 2025; Accepted: 21 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Zhao, Ma, Zhang, Liu, Li, Fang, Zheng and Li. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhongze Fang, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
Rongxiu Zheng, Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Tianjin, 300052, China
Jing Li, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin, China
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