Adult Height, Insulin, and 17β-Estradiol in Young Women

Abstract

Background: Adult height and insulin are thought to modify the development of breast cancer. However, little is known about the association between height and 17B-estradiol, a key factor in breast carcinogenesis, and whether insulin modifies such an association. Methods: Among 204 healthy women, ages 25 to 35 years, who participated in the Energy Balance and Breast Cancer Aspect I study, adult height (in centimeters) and fasting serum concentrations of insulin (pmol/L) were measured. 17B-Estradiol concentrations were measured in daily saliva samples throughout an entire menstrual cycle through RIA. Age and multivariate linear regression models were used to study the association between adult height and 17B-estradiol levels throughout an entire menstrual cycle and whether serum levels of fasting insulin may modify such an association.

Growth and obesity and its association with plasma level of steroid hormones and insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) in Slovak female students

“…The association between higher levels of estradiol and higher body height in premenopausal women (20-40 years old) (Dorgan et al, 1995, Finstad et al, 2009) and in pubertal women (Pescovitz et al, 1985) was reported previously. In our studies, young women with above average body height had a higher estradiol level then women with below average body height.…”

“…Estradiol targets mainly reproductive organs, but also stimulates bone growth during the "pubertal jump" (Creager, 1992). There are publications demonstrating a positive association of a higher estradiol level with a higher body height and body weight in premenopausal (Dorgan, 1995, Finstad, 2009) and fertile (De Pergola, 2006) woman, as well as an association of a higher estradiol level with lower WHR (Waist to hip ratio) value in premenopausal woman (Jasienska, 2004). WHR is an appropriate indicator of body fat content (Park et al, 2002;Suh et al;2002), which is widely used as a convenient index of abdominal obesity (Pouliot et al, 1994;Ross et al, 1992) and related metabolic syndrome (Hollmann et al, 1997).…”

Insulin-like growth factor-1, growth hormone, and daily cycling estrogen are associated with mammographic density in premenopausal women

“…It included 204 healthy women aged 25-35 years, with regular menstrual cycles (length 22-38 days) [19,22].…”

“…They attended three scheduled visits during their menstrual cycle, after onset of the menstrual bleeding (first visit days 1-5, second visit days 7-12 and third visit days [21][22][23][24][25]. Anthropometric measurements were conducted with participants wearing light clothing and no footwear.…”

“…In addition, 17β-estradiol profiles were associated with traditional breast cancer risk factors, such as age at menarche [19,20], insulin, adult height and metabolic profile in adulthood [21,19,22]. These associations also point to the need for further studies of estrogen in combination with the GH-IGF signalling pathway and mammographic density.…”