title: [Relationship of plasma ghrelin, IGF-1 and insulin with the growth and development of 2 -7 year-old children with small for gestational age at birth].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the relationship of Ghrelin, insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin with the growth and development of 2 -7 year-old children with small for gestational age (SGA) at birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  The levels of ghrelin, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, insulin and glucose were measured in the children with preterm SGA and term SGA and compared with the children with preterm appropriate for gestational age (AGA) and term AGA. The correlation of ghrelin with IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and insulin was analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Plasma ghrelin in preterm SGA was higher than that in term SGA (P < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between preterm SGA and preterm AGA (P > 0.05). Plasma ghrelin in preterm AGA and term SGA was higher than that in term AGA (P < 0.05, P < 0.01 respectively). Serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in preterm SGA were lower than those in term SGA (P < 0.05 for all) and serum IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in preterm AGA were much lower than those in term AGA (P < 0.0001 for all). The level of serum insulin was the highest in term SGA. The trend of insulin resistance index (IRI) was similar to insulin. There were negative correlations of ghrelin with other indexes (weight SDS, IGF-1, IGFBP-3, insulin and IRI) in preterm SGA and term SGA (in preterm SGA r = -0.683, P < 0.002; r = -0.749, P < 0.001; r = -0.828, P < 0.001; r = -0.694, P < 0.005; r = -0.822, P < 0.001; in term SGA r = -0.792, P < 0.001; r = -0.707, P < 0.002; r = -0.615, P < 0.01; r = -0.648, P < 0.005; r = -0.679, P < 0.005).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Ghrelin is involved in the regulation of growth and development of preterm and SGA children, regardless of the magnitude of their catch up growth. As a re-regulatory factor to insulin, ghrelin regulates the energy metabolism in a form of negative feedback.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Hebei Province People's Hospital, Shijiazhuang 050051, China. chyay1010@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Yaying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Guangyao
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Lixia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Baoping
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Xiumian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Jianying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yin
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D054439:Ghrelin / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3 / Q000097:blood; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D054439:Ghrelin; C515497:IGFBP3 protein, human; D007328:Insulin; D018972:Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein 3; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I