Background: The usefulness of serum insulinlike growth factor (IGF)-system-peptide measurement to assess the adequacy of nutritional intake in premature infants with chronic lung disease bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) was assessed.
Methods: Twenty-nine premature infants had serial measurements taken of their serum IGF-1, insulinlike growth factor binding protein (IGFBP)-2, and IGFBP-3 concentrations between 2 and 6 weeks of age. Regression analyses were used to examine the relation between nutritional parameters and IGF-1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-3 concentrations in premature infants with and without BPD.
Results: The group of infants with BPD (n = 12) did not differ from infants without BPD (n = 17) in gestational age or weight at entry, but gained less weight during the study period. In infants without BPD, IGF-1 correlated positively with protein intake (r = 0.50) and caloric intake (r = 0.41) over the 3 days before sample collection and with weight change over the previous week (r = 0.46). In contrast, infants with BPD showed a significant correlation between IGF-1 and weight change (r = 0.54) only. There was a significant negative correlation between IGFBP-2 and protein intake in infants without BPD (r = -0.50) and in infants with BPD (r = -0.41). Negative correlations between IGFBP-2 and both weight change (r = -0.64) and caloric intake (r = -0.43) over the previous week were found only in the group of infants without BPD. IGFBP-3 correlated positively with weight changes and protein intake in both groups but correlated with caloric intake only in the group without BPD. Multiple regression analyses were used to determine significant independent variables associated with IGF-1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-3. In infants without BPD, significant independent predictors of IGFBP-2 were 7-day weight change and 2-day protein intake; 3-day caloric intake was the only significant independent predictor for IGFBP-3. For infants with BPD, 3-day weight gain was the only independent variable associated with serum IGF-1. Protein intake in the week before sample collection was an independent predictor of IGFBP-2 and 3-day weight change and 2-day protein intake were independent predictors of IGFBP-3.
Conclusions: These results confirm that changes in serum IGF-1, IGFBP-2, and IGFBP-3 reflect the nutritional status of premature infants and demonstrate that the relation between these proteins and nutritional intake differs in premature infants with and without BPD. Refinement of these observations by future studies may permit a more accurate determination of the protein and caloric intake sufficient for growth and repair after injury in premature infants with lung disease.