Association between serum insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 levels and chronic kidney disease in diabetic patients

Introduction: Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a potent mitogen for glomerular mesangial cells which can stimulate cell migration and the production of fibronectin, proteoglycan, and type IV collagen, thereby promoting the development of the chronic kidney disease (CKD) in patients with diabetes. Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the associations between serum levels of IGF-1 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) and CKD in diabetic patients. Patients and Methods: We investigated 102 Belarusian men and women with diabetes type 2 aged 56.67±0.81 years. Control group included 68 healthy people the same age. We estimated GFR with the use of the CKD-EPI creatinine-cystatin C equation to determine eGFRcr_cys. Serum total IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were measured using immunoradiometric assay (IRMA) (Beckman Coulter, Czech Republic s.r.o.). Results: Patients with diabetes had significantly lower level of IGF-1 than controls. However, IGFBP-3 levels were similar in the two groups. Diabetic patients with CKD had significantly higher levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 than diabetic patients without CKD (P = 0.0031). However, according to multivariate analysis, only IGF-1 and cystatin C were associated with renal impairment. In detail, the odds of having eGFR<60 mL/min/1.73 m2 increased with rising IGF-1 levels (OR: 1.025, [CI 1.002-1.048]). Conclusion: Our study revealed that higher serum IGF-1 levels were positively associated with CKD in patients with diabetes. We suggest that IGF-1 might be a predictor of CKD in patients with diabetes. Further research is necessary to confirm the observed this association and to detect the causal relations.