Nutritional Status and Serum IGF-1 Levels as Predictors of Preterm Morbidities

Abstract

Background: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) plays an important role in the complex association between nutrition, growth and maturation in extremely and very preterm infants. Nevertheless, in this population, research on associations between IGF-1 and nutrition is limited. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of postnatal retinopathy of prematurity(ROP) of preterm infants ≤ 32 weeks’ gestation in relation to their serum IGF-1 levels and nutritional intake. When the baby had attained feeding at 70ml/kg and four weeks later, IGF1 and anthropometric measures were obtained. Patients and methods: this prospective study included 55 premature neonates born at gestational age of ≤32 weeks’ gestation, who had been examined for development of ROP and had their serum level of IGF1been checked. Results: There was statistically significant difference found between patients with and without ROP regarding the level of IGF1 (p-value <0.001). Neonates with ROP had statistically higher CRP and were smaller in size than non ROP group(p<0.001). Conclusion: in conclusion, we found that retinopathy of prematurity was significantly associated with low level of umbilical cord blood IGF-1 levels in preterm children, thus, IGF-1 is a potential biomarker for an increased risk of developing severe ROP. In addition, ROP was found to be significantly linked with maternal risk factors such as Urinary tract infection, anemia, preeclampsia and antenatal steroid.