Original Article

International Journal of Obesity (2006) 30, 1623–1631. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0803324; published online 21 March 2006

Body mass index, waist circumference and waist–hip ratio and serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 in European women

I T Gram1,2, T Norat2, S Rinaldi2, L Dossus2, A Lukanova3, B Téhard4, F Clavel-Chapelon4, C H van Gils5, P A H van Noord5, P H M Peeters5, H B Bueno-de-Mesquita6, G Nagel7, J Linseisen7, P H Lahmann8, H Boeing8, D Palli9, C Sacerdote10, S Panico11, R Tumino12, S Sieri13, M Dorronsoro14, J R Quirós15, C A Navarro16, A Barricarte17, M-J Tormo16, C A González18, K Overvad19, S Paaske Johnsen20, A Olsen21, A Tjønneland21, R Travis22, N Allen22, S Bingham23, K-T Khaw24, P Stattin25, A Trichopoulou26, V Kalapothaki26, T Psaltopoulou26, C Casagrande2, E Riboli2 and R Kaaks2

  1. 1Institute of Community Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway
  2. 2International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, Cedex, France
  3. 3New York University School of Medicine, New York, USA
  4. 4Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM) U521, Institut Gustave Roussy, Villejuif, France
  5. 5Julius Center for Health Sciences and Primary Care, University Medical Center, Utrecht, The Netherlands
  6. 6Centre for Nutrition and Health, National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands
  7. 7Division of Clinical Epidemiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
  8. 8Department of Epidemiology, German Institute of Human Nutrition, Potsdam-Rehbrücke, Nuthetal, Germany
  9. 9Molecular and Nutritional Epidemiology Unit, Cancer Research and Prevention Centre, Scientific Institute of Tuscany, Florence, Italy
  10. 10CPO-Piemonte, Torino, Italy
  11. 11Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Federico II University, Naples, Italy
  12. 12Cancer Registry, Azienda Ospedaliera 'Civile M.P. Arezzo', Ragusa, Italy
  13. 13Epidemiology Unit, Istituto Tumori, Milan, Italy
  14. 14Subdirección de Salud Pública de Gipuzkoa, San Sebastian, Spain
  15. 15Sección Información Sanitaria, Consejería de Salud y Servicios Sanitarios de Asturias, Asturias, Spain
  16. 16Consejería de Sanidad y Consumo, Murcia, Spain
  17. 17Public Health Institute of Navarra, Oxford, Spain
  18. 18Department of Epidemiology, Catalan Institute of Oncology, Barcelona, Spain
  19. 19Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aalborg Hospital, Aarhus University Hospital, Aalborg, Denmark
  20. 20Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
  21. 21Institute of Cancer Epidemiology, The Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, Denmark
  22. 22Epidemiology Unit, Cancer Research UK, University of Oxford, Pamplona, UK
  23. 23MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge, UK
  24. 24Institute of Public Health, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  25. 25University of Umeå, UMEÅ, Sweden
  26. 26University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece

Correspondence: Dr R Kaaks, International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, 150 Cours Albert Thomas, Lyon 69372, Cedex 08, France. E-mail: kaaks@iarc.fr

Received 29 August 2005; Revised 22 February 2006; Accepted 23 February 2006; Published online 21 March 2006.

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Abstract

Objective:

 

To examine the relationship between body mass index (BMI) and waist–hip ratio (WHR) with serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I), and its binding protein (IGFBP)-3.

Design:

 

Cross-sectional study on 2139 women participating in a case–control study on breast cancer and endogenous hormones. Data on lifestyle and reproductive factors were collected by means of questionnaires. Body height, weight, waist and hip circumferences were measured. Serum levels of IGF-I and insulin-like binding protein (IGFBP)-3 were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. Adjusted mean levels of IGF-I and IGFBP-3 across quintiles of BMI, waist circumference, and WHR were calculated by linear regression. Results were adjusted for potential confounders associated with IGF-I and IGFBP-3.

Results:

 

Adjusted mean serum IGF-I values were lower in women with BMI<22.5 kg/m2 or BMI>29.2 kg/m2 compared to women with BMI within this range (Pheterogeneity<0.0001, Ptrend=0.35). Insulin-like growth factor-I was not related to WHR after adjustment for BMI. IGF-binding protein-3 was linearly positively related to waist and WHR after mutual adjustment. The molar ratio IGF-I/IGFBP-3 had a non-linear relation with BMI and a linear inverse relationship with WHR (P trend=0.005).

Conclusions:

 

Our data confirm the nonlinear relationship of circulating IGF-I to total adiposity in women. Serum IGFBP-3 was positively related to central adiposity. These suggest that bioavailable IGF-I levels could be lower in obese compared to non-obese women and inversely related to central adiposity.

Keywords:

IGF-I, IGFBP-3, body mass index, waist–hip ratio, women

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