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Long term consequences of the 1944–1945 Dutch famine on the insulin‐like growth factor axis
Author(s) -
Elias Sjoerd G.,
KeinanBoker Lital,
Peeters Petra H.M.,
Van Gils Carla H.,
Kaaks Rudolf,
Grobbee Diederick E.,
Van Noord Paulus A.H.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.11584
Subject(s) - famine , endocrinology , medicine , starvation , insulin like growth factor , insulin , caloric theory , growth factor , biology , somatomedin , receptor , history , archaeology
The insulin‐like growth factor axis is highly responsive to nutritional status and may be involved as one of the underlying mechanisms through which caloric restriction could affect cancer risk. High levels of circulating insulin‐like growth factor (IGF)‐I, or IGF‐I relative to IGF binding protein (IGFBP)‐3 have been related to various human cancer types. In a group of 87 postmenopausal women, we found that childhood exposure to the 1944–1945 Dutch famine was associated with increased plasma levels of IGF‐I and IGFBP‐3, whereas IGFBP‐1 and ‐2 levels were weakly decreased. These results are opposite to immediate responses seen under starvation and we hypothesize that this could indicate a permanent overshoot upon improvement of nutritional status after the famine. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.