Simultaneous measurements of serum insulin-like growth factor-i and leptin reflect the postoperative nutrition status of oral tumor patients

Objective Recent evidence has shown that circulating levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and leptin are regulated by nutrition support. Our objective was to investigate the reliability of IGF-I and leptin in monitoring the efficacy of nutrition support and nutrition status in oral tumor patients. Methods Fifty-one male patients scheduled to receive resection operation for oral tumor were recruited. Fasted blood samples were collected before surgery (d0), on the first postoperative day before feeding (d1), and on the seventh postoperative day (d7) with nasogastric tube feeding (35 kcal • kg−1 • d−1). Fifty male healthy volunteers were recruited as controls. Results After adjustment for age, patients had significantly greater serum concentrations of transferrin and significantly lower serum concentrations of prealbumin and tumor-necrosis factor-α than did healthy volunteers on d0. In oral tumor patients, resection with prolonged fasting significantly increased levels of growth hormone and interleukin-6 and significantly decreased levels prealbumin, retinol-binding protein, IGF-I, and leptin, and these alterations were reversed by nutrition support for 6 d in oral tumor patients. Serum IGF-I was further increased on d7 compared with d0. In addition, leptin was the only nutrition-related serum protein showing significantly positive correlation with body mass index in healthy volunteers and patients. Conclusions Our results suggested that simultaneous measurements of serum IGF-I and leptin may provide information with regard to the efficacy of nutrition support and nutrition status in oral tumor patients undergoing surgery.