Serum IGFBP7 levels associate with insulin resistance and the risk of metabolic syndrome in a Chinese population

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), one of the major public health concerns, is regarded as the common soil of incidence of common chronic diseases and may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. The predominant underlying mechanism of MetS is insulin resistance (IR). Additionally, previous studies have indicated that IGFBP(7) has high affinity of binding with insulin and might induce IR. The objective of this study was to firstly evaluate the associations of serum IGFBP(7) levels with IR and MetS with a relatively large sample and population based design. In a population based MetS case-control study, HOMA-IR was used to evaluate the insulin sensitivity and serum IGFBP(7) levels were determined with chemiluminescence-linked immunoassay. As a result, the subjects of MetS and IR had higher serum levels of IGFBP(7) than control healthy subjects. High serum IGFBP(7) levels increased the risk of MetS and IR. Serum IGFBP(7) levels were also found to be significantly correlated with metabolic-associated parameters of Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), HDL and LDL. These findings suggest that serum IGFBP(7) levels are associated with IR and MetS, providing new insight into the mechanism of IR and Mets. IGFBP(7) may be a potential interventional target for IR and Mets.