The Clinical Values of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 and Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 Levels in Blood and Thyroid Nodules

Ayfer Altas; Fatih Kuzu; Dilek Arpaci; Mustafa Unal; Murat Can; Figen Barut; Furuzan Kokturk; Sevil Uygun Ilikhan; Taner Bayraktaroglu

doi:10.1155/2017/3145234

The Clinical Values of Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 and Insulin-Like Growth Factor Binding Protein-3 Levels in Blood and Thyroid Nodules

Int J Endocrinol. 2017:2017:3145234. doi: 10.1155/2017/3145234. Epub 2017 Sep 7.

Authors

Ayfer Altas¹, Fatih Kuzu², Dilek Arpaci², Mustafa Unal¹, Murat Can³, Figen Barut⁴, Furuzan Kokturk⁵, Sevil Uygun Ilikhan¹, Taner Bayraktaroglu²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey.
² Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey.
³ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey.
⁴ Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey.
⁵ Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Medicine, Bulent Ecevit University, Zonguldak, Turkey.

Abstract

Aim: Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a potent mitogen for many cells. IGF-1 plays a role in the pathogenesis of various tumors with its mutagenic and antiapoptotic properties. The aim of this study was to determine both the serum and intranodular levels of IGF-1 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) in patients with nodular thyroid diseases.

Materials and methods: In this study, 80 subjects who performed fine-needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) were required in order to investigate the effects of serum and intranodular IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in the pathogenesis of nodules. After performing FNAB, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels were determined in blood and aspiration samples.

Results: The serum levels of IGF-1 (232.8 ± 12.9 ng/ml) and IGFBP-3 (4.8 μg/ml) were found significantly higher than that of the intranodular IGF-1 (39.1 ng/ml) and intranodular IGFBP-3 levels (0.173 μg/ml) (p < 0.01). Intranodular levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were higher in subjects with multinodular thyroid gland than those of subjects with solitary nodules (p = 0.043). A positive correlation between the nodule size and the serum IGFBP-3 levels was detected (p = 0.042, r = 0.23).

Conclusion: This study demonstrated the possible role of both IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in the growth and the formation of multinodularity of thyroid nodules.