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Francesco Perticone, Angela Sciacqua, Maria Perticone, Irma Laino, Sofia Miceli, Ilaria Care', Giulia Galiano Leone, Francesco Andreozzi, Raffaele Maio, Giorgio Sesti, Low-Plasma Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Levels Are Associated with Impaired Endothelium-Dependent Vasodilatation in a Cohort of Untreated, Hypertensive Caucasian Subjects, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 93, Issue 7, 1 July 2008, Pages 2806–2810, https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2008-0646
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Abstract
Context: Accumulating evidence suggests that IGF-I has protective vascular effects, supporting the possibility that IGF-I deficiency may contribute to atherosclerosis. However, the relationship between plasma IGF-I levels and endothelium-dependent vasodilatation is still unsettled.
Objective: We designed this present study to test the hypothesis that low-plasma IGF-I levels are associated with reduced endothelial function independently classical cardiovascular risk factors.
Setting: Outpatients were included in the study.
Patients: A total of 100 never-treated hypertensive Caucasian subjects participating in the CAtanzaro MEtabolic RIsk factors Study was recruited.
Interventions: Subjects underwent forearm blood flow (FBF) evaluation by strain-gauge plethysmography in response to increasing doses of acetylcholine (ACh) (Sigma, Milan, Italy) and sodium nitroprusside (Malesci, Florence, Italy). Insulin sensitivity was estimated by the homeostasis model assessment index.
Results: Plasma IGF-I levels were significantly correlated with age (r = −0.300; P = 0.001), high-density lipoprotein serum cholesterol (r = 0.211; P = 0.017), homeostasis model assessment index (r = −0.355; P <0.0001), systolic blood pressure (r = −0.174; P = 0.042), glomerular filtration rate (r = 0.228; P = 0.011), and ACh-stimulated FBF (r = 0.565; P <0.0001). In a stepwise forward multivariate regression analysis, the strongest predictors of ACh-stimulated FBF response were plasma IGF-I levels, accounting for 31.9% of its variation.
Conclusions: These results demonstrate, for the first time, that low-plasma IGF-I levels are highly associated with reduced endothelial function, an early step in atherogenesis process.
