Evaluation serum levels of Insulin Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and its association with clinical parameters in severe COVID-19

Severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is associated with dysregulated immune response and extreme inflammatory injury. Considering the role of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in immune-mediated and inflammatory reactions, this study was conducted to investigate the IGF-1 contribution to the pathogenesis of severe form of COVID-19.

Sixty-two patients with severe COVID-19 and 52 healthy subjects were enrolled in this study. The serum levels of IGF-1 were measured using a solid-phase enzyme-linked chemiluminescent immunoassay on an Immulite 2000 system (Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics.

The serum levels of IGF-1 had no significant difference in COVID-19 patients compared to the healthy subjects (p = 0.359). There was a positive correlation between IGF-1 and age in the severe COVID-19 patients, while a negative correlation was observed for the serum levels of IGF-1 and age in the control group (r = 0.364, p = 0.036, r = − 0.536, p = 0.001, respectively). Moreover, IGF-1 was remarkably associated with hypertension, neurogenic disease, shock, and nausea in patients with the severe form of COVID-19 (p = 0.031, p = 0.044, p = 0.01, p = 0.03, respectively).

Our results pointed to the complex role of IGF-1 in the severe form of COVID-19, and its association with clinical parameters, and some risk factors in the severe form of COVID-19.