Relationships between IGF-I and weight Z score, BMI, tricipital skin-fold thickness, type of feeding in healthy infants in the first 5 months of life.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the concentration of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in exclusively breast-fed (BF) and formula-fed (FF) infants in the first 5 months of life and to study the relationship between the IGF-I level and Z score for weight, body mass index (BMI) and tricipital skin-fold thickness.


METHODS
We performed a cross-sectional study in order to evaluate serum IGF-I in 97 age-matched healthy term infants: 50 FF and 47 BF.


RESULTS
FF infants showed higher values of IGF-I (38.9 +/- 12 ng/ml) when compared to BF infants (26.7 +/- 11.6 ng/ml; p < 0.05). A positive correlation was found between IGF-I values and Z score for weight (p < 0.001), BMI (p = 0.014), tricipital skin-fold thickness (p = 0.043) and age (p = 0.02).


CONCLUSIONS
These results show that the IGF-I serum concentration is higher in FF infants. The observed association between IGF-I and Z score for weight, BMI, tricipital skin-fold thickness confirms the effect of different infant feeding on body size.
Savino
F
F
Department of Paediatrics, University of Turin, Regina Margherita Hospital, Turin, Italy. francesco.savino@unito.it
Nanni
G E
GE
Maccario
S
S
Oggero
R
R
Mussa
G C
GC
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001132:Arm / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012885:Skinfold Thickness
D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I