The association of insulin-like-growth factor 1 (IGF-1) with incident coronary heart disease in women: findings from the prospective British Women's Heart and Health Study.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the association of insulin-like-growth factor 1 (IGF-1) with coronary heart disease (CHD) in women.


METHODS
Prospective (4 year) case-control study nested within the British Women's Heart and Health Study. With 167 cases and 333 controls. Serum IGF-1 concentrations (on serum stored at -80 degrees C for a median of 4 years) were determined using a two-site immunoenzymometric assay.


RESULTS
Among both cases and controls IGF-1 was inversely correlated with waist:hip ratio, fasting insulin, HOMA-IR, CRP, triglyceride levels and systolic blood pressure, and was positively correlated with HDL-C levels. The confounder-adjusted (age, socioeconomic position, smoking and physical activity) relative risk ratio for a 1 standard deviation (S.D.) increase in IGF-1 was 0.92 (95% CI: 0.75, 1.12) and additional adjustment for metabolic risk factors (waist:hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin and C-reactive protein) attenuated this to 0.98 (95% CI: 0.80, 1.21). There was no evidence of non-linear associations and the risk of CHD was similar across quarters of the distribution of IGF-1.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite associations with established CHD risk factors in this, and other studies, our findings suggest that higher IGF-1 levels are not associated with CHD in older British women. The contradictory evidence to date in this area highlights the need for further large-scale prospective studies and use of genetic epidemiology studies to determine the nature of the association between IGF-1 and CHD.
Lawlor
Debbie A
DA
MRC Centre for Causal Analyses in Translational Epidemiology, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Canynge Hall, Whiteladies Road, Bristol, BS8 2PR, UL, UK. d.a.lawlor@bristol.ac.uk
Ebrahim
Shah
S
Smith
George Davey
GD
Cherry
Lynne
L
Watt
Pauline
P
Sattar
Naveed
N
D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D006113:United Kingdom
D001786:Blood Glucose; D008055:Lipids; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I; D002097:C-Reactive Protein