Cardiology Letters 2012, 21(5):397-405

May growth hormone and IGF-1 concentrations be used in the stratification of additional cardiovascular risk in patients with acute myocardial infarction?

Mechirova V, Pytliak M, Vargova V, Franko S, Mandulakova A

I. Interná klinika, Lekárská fakulta Univerzita Pavla Jozefa Šafárika a UN v Košiciach, Slovenská republika

Introduction: Research in cardiology has recently also focused on finding suitable biochemical markers for additional cardiovascular risk stratification. Management of patients with cardiovascular diseases would benefit from valid markers of increased risk, and so help to optimize their treatment. The aim of this study was to compare the concentrations of the growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor - 1 (IGF-1) with patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) hospitalized in the intensive care unit compared with the control group. In addition, we investigated the association between the concentrations of GH and IGF-1 with markers of myocardial damage (troponin T) and their correlation with the left ventricular ejection fraction measured on the seventh day after the attack.

Patients and methods: We examined a group of 15 patients aged 50-60 years with acute myocardial infarction (STEMI and NSTEMI). The control group consisted of 7 patients who were admitted to hospital due to the differential diagnosis of chest pain. Both GH and IGF-1 were determined in the peracute phase of myocardial infarction (4.5 hours ± 0.5 hours from the onset of chest pain), and on the seventh day after the onset of pain. Echocardiography was performed on the seventh day of hospitalization.

Results: When comparing the concentrations of GH, the patients with AMI had significantly higher concentrations of GH in the peracute phase (p<0.001) and insignificantly higher on the seventh day of hospitalization than the patients in the control group. In patients with AMI, GH concentrations were 2-3 times higher in the peracute stage than on the seventh day of hospitalization (p<0.01). Concentrations of GH positively correlated with concentrations of troponin T (p = 0.005) in the peracute phase of AMI and negatively with left ventricular ejection fraction on the 7th day of hospitalization (p = 0.0018). Concentrations of IGF-1 in the peracute phase positively correlated with the ejection fraction on the seventh day of hospitalization (p = 0.0005).

Conclusion: Based on the above data, it may be assumed that the determination of GH and IGF-1 concentrations in the peracute phase of AMI could help stratification of additional cardiovascular risk for patients after acute infarction, early detection of the risk of damage to the left ventricular systolic function, and possibly in monitoring the treatment.

Keywords: growth hormone (GH); IGF-1; acute myocardial

Published: May 1, 2012  Show citation