Diferències sexuals i d'edat: una comparació de la leptina sèrica, els components de l'insulin-like growth factor-I i les concentracions de la globulina d'unió a hormones sexuals en una població sana

Authors

  • José Manuel Gómez
  • Francisco Javier Maravall
  • Joan Soler Ramon

Abstract

Leptin secretion is influenced by many factors, and the GH/IGF axis plays an important role in the regulation of body composition. Sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG) is a glycoprotein synthesized in the liver, and it is a transport protein, which is a primary modulator of the androgen signal. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated sex and age differences as they corresponded to the concentration levels in leptin, the IGF-I system components, and SHBG, basing our study on data froma group of randomly selected, healthy adults. The study included 268 subjects, representative of the entire population of the city of L´Hospitalet de Llobregat in Spain. The distribution in sex and age were as follows: 134 males, with a mean age of 41.4 years, and 134 females, with a mean age of 40.7 years; Ages ranged from 15-70 years. Serumleptin concentrations were determined using radioimmunoassay (RIA); serum total IGF-I concentrations were obtained by immunoradiometric assay after acid-ethanol extraction, and serum free IGFI concentrations were obtained by enzymoimmunometric assay. Serum IGFBP3 concentrations were acquired using RIA and SHBG by fluoroimmunoassay. In the male population, leptin showed an increase in the 4th decade, a total IGF-I, free IGF-I, and IGFBP3 decrease throughout all of the decades, and an increase of SHBG in the 4th and 6th decades. In the female population, leptin concentrations increased in the later decades; total IGF-I, free IGF-I, and IGFBP3 levels decreased by decade, and SHBG concentrations decreased in the final decade. Leptin concentrations were lower in men than in women in all of the decades (p = 0.001). IGF-I concentrations were lower in men in all of the decades (p = 0.01), except in the last two, and free IGF-I and IGFBP3 concentrations were similar in men and women in all of the decades (p = 0.09 and p = 0.2, respectively). SHBG concentrations were lower in men than in women (p = 0.001), except in the final decade. In this well-characterized, randomly selected population of controls, we showed sexual dimorphism in leptin, total IGF-I, and SHBG concentrations with differences observable throughout the decades.

Published

2007-12-28