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ENDO: Insulin-Like Growth Factor 1 Helps Predict Retinopathy Of Prematurity By Amy Lazarus Yaroch Special to DG News DENVER, CO -- June 24, 2001 -- Retinopathy of prematurity, the leading cause of blindness in the Western world has been shown to be associated with low serum levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 in pre-term children, according to a new study. Dr. Ann Hellstrom with Goteborg University, Sweden, reported findings today at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society (ENDO) in Denver, Colorado. According to the researchers, 41 pre-term children with a median gestational age of 28 weeks, born between December 1999 and September 2000 were examined. Serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels were taken once a week following birth to discharge from the hospital. Additionally, eyes of children were examined weekly for retinopathy. Postnatal IGF-1 was shown to rise more slowly in children that developed retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) (N=15) than with children without ROP (N=26). For children without ROP, the postnatal peak of IGF-1 occurred at gestational weeks 31-35, whereas children without ROP did not show this peak and instead had a slow rise of IGF-1. "We have found a growth factor (IGF-1) that seems to be very closely related to ROP in pre-term children," Dr. Hellstrom told Doctor’s Guide. "We hope that by replacing this growth factor, we could prevent ROP and possibly other conditions associated with abnormal development in pre-term children." "The serum level of IGF-1 can be used as a predictor. What we have found is that if the IGF-1 level is below a certain concentration at 33 weeks of gestation, the children with levels below that have a sevenfold increase to develop ROP and other morbidity," Dr. Hellstrom told Doctor’s Guide. Dr. Hellstrom remarked that although they hypothesized the results, the researchers were "very surprised that the data would be so strong." Dr. Hellstrom told Doctor’s Guide that she would like to look into the possibility of conducting a treatment study of IGF-1. E-mail this page to a friend or colleague! To print, use this version