Background
The concern about growth hormone, used for treatment of growth hormone deficiency, wasting diseases, is increasing recently. There is much to be desired about the study for the reference range of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) of Korean healthy adults, because there was the lack for the studies of their IGF-1 level. The authors investigated the concentration of IGF-1 according to age groups, and the correlation factor with IGF-1 level in healthy adult in Korea. Methods: The subjects were 10,681 Korean healthy adults (5,263 female, 5,418 male) aged over 20 years, who visited a Department of Family Practice and Community Health in a university hospital from March 1998 to December 2003. We excluded the persons with DM, liver disease, renal disease, thyroid disease, cancer etc. We measured the serum IGF-1, fasting glucose, lipid profile, serum albumin, protein, waist circumference, hip circumference, and body mass index. Results: IGF-1 level showed the sexual difference (184.6 ± 86.3 ng/mL for men, 178.6± 91.8 ng/mL for women) and decreased with aging significantly. Age is the most reliable correlation factor with IGF-1 (R: -0.325 for men, R:-0.463 for women). After adjusting ageand weight, IGF-1 showed the correlation with total protein, albumin, creatinin, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol for men and height, waist circumference, body mass index, waist-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, total protein, albumin, creatinin, triglyceride, HDL cholesterol for women. Conclusion: IGF-1 concentration decreases with aging over 20 years old. It shows the strongest correlation with age in both sexes.
