Association between Growth Differentiation Factor-15 and Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Patients with Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency

Abstract

Objective. Patients with adult growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) confer a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease and increased mortality because of metabolic disorders. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) plays an important role in predicting metabolic abnormalities. We sought to investigate the correlation between GDF-15 and cardiovascular risk in AGHD patients. Methods. The study enrolled 80 AGHD patients and 80 healthy subjects. We analyzed the association between GDF-15 and some major biochemical indicators. The potential association between GDF-15 and cardiovascular disease risk was analyzed. Results. The AGHD group exhibited increased waist-hip ratio and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) and lipid levels compared with the healthy control group. Serum GDF-15 levels in AGHD group were elevated significantly compared with the control group P < 0.001 . GDF-15 levels were negatively associated with insulin-like growth factor-1 in AGHD group P = 0.006 and positively correlated with waist-to-hip ratio P = 0.018 , triglycerides P = 0.007 , and hs-CRP P = 0.046 . In addition, GDF-15 was positively correlated with Framingham risk score significantly after adjustment for other factors (r = 0.497, P < 0.001 ). Moreover, GDF-15 was an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease in AGHD patients after adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors. Conclusion. Elevated GDF-15 levels were significantly associated with cardiovascular risk factors and can be considered as a predictive biomarker of cardiovascular risk in AGHD patients.

GDF15 is an exercise-induced hepatokine regulated by glucagon and insulin in humans

“…Plasma growth hormone is elevated during exercise and blocked by the infusion of somatostatin during exercise. The exercise-induced increase in growth hormone could contribute to the stimulation of GDF15, however this seems unlikely as patients with growth hormone deficiency have elevated levels of GDF15 ( 46 ).…”

Research Trends of Stunting Related to Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1: Bibliometric Analysis

“…articles, and Chen L and Li J each published 6 articles. Several publications from 10 authors with the highest number of articles are Association Between the Growth Hormone/Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Axis and Muscle Density in Children and Adolescents of Short Stature (Yang et al, 2022), Association between Growth Differentiation Factor-15 and Risk of Cardiovascular Diseases in Patients with Adult Growth Hormone Deficiency (Wu et al, 2021), Protein QTL analysis of IGF-I and its binding proteins provides insights into growth biology (Bartell et al, 2020), and Association Between the Growth Hormone /Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 Axis and Muscle Density in Children and Adolescents of Short Stature (Yang et al, 2022). The results of keyword analysis using bibliometrics found 4548 keywords which provide important information about the dynamics of the scope and issues that are much larger than this research (Table VII and Figure 8).…”