Relationship between insulin-like growth factor-I and brain natriuretic peptide in patients with acromegaly after surgery.

Background: Increased cardiac insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I production is associated with physiological cardiac hypertrophy in athletes, and IGF-I has been recognized as a cardioprotective agent in experimental animal studies. On the other hand, acromegaly which is characterized by an excess of IGF-I has been linked to impaired cardiac function.

Methods And Results: Both the relationship between the serum levels of IGF-I and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), which is released from the cardiac ventricles in response to ventricular stress, and that between IGF-I and the concentrations of the plasma amino-terminal propeptide of procollagen type III (P-III-P), which is associated with myocardial fibrosis, were evaluated in 19 patients after surgical treatment for acromegaly. Echocardiography revealed that left ventricular systolic function and dimensions were within normal range in all patients. Significant inverse correlations were found between IGF-I and the BNP (r=-0.5, p=0.02) and P-III-P levels (r=-0.62, p=0.005).

Conclusion: We observed an inverse significant relationship between IGF-I and both the BNP and P-III-P value in surgically treated acromegaly patients. These observations suggest that appropriate levels of IGF-I have beneficial cardioprotective effects after surgery in patients with acromegaly.