ArticleThe American journal of clinical nutrition2021
Infections and systemic inflammation are associated with lower plasma concentration of insulin-like growth factor I among Malawian children.
Article in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pro/synbiotics reduce systemic inflammation and improve gut health in Kenyan infants: An open label, randomized, 4-arm, phase II trial.Cell reports. Medicine · 2026Trial
- Malaria Incidence, Growth, and their Relationship among a Cohort of Malawian Children.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2026Article
- Infections, Animal-Source Foods, and Micronutrient Status as Correlates of Serum IGF-1 in Children with Stunting: A Cross-sectional Study in Uganda.The Journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- The Contribution of BMI to a Young Child's Risk of Islet Autoimmunity Is Dependent on HLA-DR4-DQ8 Without HLA-DR3-DQ2.Diabetes care · 2025Article
- Enteric pathogen carriage in early childhood is associated with elevated CRP, lower IGF-1 and linear growth deficits: the ELICIT study in rural Tanzania.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Determinants of Nurturing Care Behaviours in Malawi: An Ethnographic Study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Hormones in malaria infection: influence on disease severity, host physiology, and therapeutic opportunities.Bioscience reports · 2024Review
- Article
- Association between asymptomatic infections and linear growth in 18-24-month-old Malawian children.Maternal & child nutrition · 2023Article
- Observational
- Systemic Inflammation in the First 2 Weeks after Birth as a Determinant of Physical Growth Outcomes in Hospitalized Infants with Extremely Low Gestational Age.The Journal of pediatrics · 2022Article
- The synergistic interaction of systemic inflammation, dysbiosis and antimicrobial resistance promotes growth restriction in children with acute severe malnutrition: An emphasis onFrontiers in antibiotics · 2022Review
- IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in Inflammatory Cachexia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
18 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInsulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) is the most important hormonal promoter of linear growth in infants and young children.
objectivesThe objectives of this study were to compare plasma IGF-I concentration in a low- compared with a high-income country and characterize biological pathways leading to reduced IGF-I concentration in children in a low-income setting.
methodsWe analyzed plasma IGF-I concentration from 716 Malawian and 80 Finnish children at 6-36 mo of age. In the Malawian children, we studied the association between IGF-I concentration and their environmental exposures; nutritional status; systemic and intestinal inflammation; malaria parasitemia and viral, bacterial, and parasitic enteric infections; as well as growth at 18 mo of age. We then conducted a pathway analysis to identify direct and indirect associations between these predictors and IGF-I concentration.
resultsThe mean IGF-I concentrations were similar in Malawi and Finland among 6-mo-old infants. At age 18 mo, the mean ± SD concentration was almost double among the Finns compared with the Malawians [24.2 ± 11.3 compared with 12.5 ± 7.7 ng/mL, age- and sex-adjusted difference in mean (95% CI): 11.8 (9.9, 13.7) ng/mL; P < 0.01]. Among 18-mo-old Malawians, plasma IGF-I concentration was inversely associated with systemic inflammation, malaria parasitemia, and intestinal Shigella, Campylobacter, and enterovirus infection and positively associated with the children's weight-for-length z score (WLZ), female sex, maternal height, mother's education, and dry season. Seasonally, mean plasma IGF-I concentration was highest in June and July and lowest in December and January, coinciding with changes in children's length gain and preceded by ∼2 mo by the changes in their WLZ.
conclusionsThe mean plasma IGF-I concentrations are similar in Malawi and Finland among 6-mo-old infants. Thereafter, mean concentrations rise markedly in Finland but not in Malawi. Systemic inflammation and clinically nonapparent infections are strongly associated with lower plasma IGF-I concentrations in Malawi through direct and indirect pathways.
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