Download PDF
Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes 2010; 118(4): 266-273
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1225616
Article

© J. A. Barth Verlag in Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Associations of Anthropometric Parameters with Serum TSH, Prolactin, IGF-I, and Testosterone Levels: Results of the Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP)

N. Friedrich 1 , 2 , D. Rosskopf 3 , G. Brabant 4 , H. Völzke 2 , M. Nauck 1 , H. Wallaschofski 1
  • 1Institute of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Germany
  • 2Institute for Community Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Germany
  • 3Institute of Pharmacology, Ernst Moritz Arndt University Greifswald, Germany
  • 4Department of Endocrinology, Christie Hospital, Manchester, UK
Further Information

Publication History

received 21.08.2008 first decision 12.03.2009

accepted 04.06.2009

Publication Date:
16 July 2009 (online)

Also available at
    Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Obesity is a major risk factor for chronic diseases including cardiovascular disorders. Divergent associations between obesity and hormonal changes have been reported. The objective of the present study was to analyse the associations between anthropometric measurements and hormone levels including serum thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), prolactin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I, and testosterone. Form the cross-sectional Study of Health in Pomerania 1  women and 1 864 men aged 20–79 years were included in the analyses. Serum TSH, prolactin, IGF-I, and testosterone levels were determined by immunochemiluminescent procedures. Body height, weight as well as waist and hip circumferences were measured. Body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were calculated. Our analyses revealed inverse linear associations of waist and hip circumferences, BMI and WHtR with serum TSH levels and linear associations between waist circumference as well as WHtR and serum prolactin levels in women. In men, inverse linear and quadratic associations between anthropometric parameters and serum IGF-I as well as serum testosterone levels were found. Additionally, men with high waist circumference had more often low serum IGF-I or testosterone levels and less often high serum IGF-I or testosterone levels compared to men with low waist circumference. These sex-specific differences should be noted in studies regarding hormones and obesity.

Key words

anabolic hormones - anthropometry - body mass index - waist-to-hip ratio

References

  • 1 Alevizaki M, Cimponeriu AT, Garofallaki M. et al . The androgen receptor gene CAG polymorphism is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease in men.  Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2003;  59 749-755
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Ashwell M, Cole TJ, Dixon AK. Ratio of waist circumference to height is strong predictor of intra-abdominal fat.  BMJ. 1996;  313 559-560
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Ashwell M, Lejeune S, McPherson K. Ratio of waist circumference to height may be better indicator of need for weight management.  BMJ. 1996;  312 377
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Baghaei F, Rosmond R, Westberg L. et al . The CYP19 gene and associations with androgens and abdominal obesity in premenopausal women.  Obes Res. 2003;  11 578-585
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Bideci A, Cinaz P, Hasanoglu A. et al . Serum levels of insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in obese children.  J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 1997;  10 295-299
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Bonafe M, Barbieri M, Marchegiani F. et al . Polymorphic variants of insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) receptor and phosphoinositide 3-kinase genes affect IGF-I plasma levels and human longevity: cues for an evolutionarily conserved mechanism of life span control.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003;  88 3299-3304
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Brandebourg T, Hugo E, Ben-Jonathan N. Adipocyte prolactin: regulation of release and putative functions.  Diabetes Obes Metab. 2007;  9 464-476
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Bühringer G, Augustin R, Bergmann E. et al .Alkoholkonsum und Alkoholbezogene Störungen in Deutschland [Alcohol consumption and alcoholrelated problems in Germany]. Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft; 2002
    Google Scholar
  • 9 Copeland KC, Colletti RB, Devlin JT. et al . The relationship between insulin-like growth factor-I, adiposity, and aging.  Metabolism. 1990;  39 584-587
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Daniels SR, Arnett DK, Eckel RH. et al . Overweight in children and adolescents: pathophysiology, consequences, prevention, and treatment.  Circulation. 2005;  111 1999-2012
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Ferrero V, Ribichini F, Matullo G. et al . Estrogen receptor-alpha polymorphisms and angiographic outcome after coronary artery stenting.  Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2003;  23 2223-2228
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Figtree GA, Kindmark A, Lind L. et al . Novel estrogen receptor alpha promoter polymorphism increases ventricular hypertrophic response to hypertension.  J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2007;  103 110-118
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 13 Fox CS, Yang Q, Cupples LA. et al . Sex-specific association between estrogen receptor-alpha gene variation and measures of adiposity: the Framingham Heart Study.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2005;  90 6257-6262
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 14 Frystyk J, Vestbo E, Skjaerbaek C. et al . Free insulin-like growth factors in human obesity.  Metabolism. 1995;  44 37-44
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 15 Giagulli VA, Kaufman JM, Vermeulen A. Pathogenesis of the decreased androgen levels in obese men.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994;  79 997-1000
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 16 Gore AC, Villalobos C, Frawley LS. Differential influences of gender and physiological status on calcium dynamics and prolactin gene expression in rat mammotropes.  Endocrine. 1999;  11 131-136
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 17 Haffner SM, Valdez RA, Stern MP. et al . Obesity, body fat distribution and sex hormones in men.  Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1993;  17 643-649
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 18 Jia WP, Lu JX, Xiang KS. et al . Prediction of abdominal visceral obesity from body mass index, waist circumference and waist-hip ratio in Chinese adults: receiver operating characteristic curves analysis.  Biomed Environ Sci. 2003;  16 206-211
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 19 Kaklamani VG, Linos A, Kaklamani E. et al . Age, sex, and smoking are predictors of circulating insulin-like growth factor 1 and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3.  J Clin Oncol. 1999;  17 813-817
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 20 Kok P, Roelfsema F, Frolich M. et al . Prolactin release is enhanced in proportion to excess visceral fat in obese women.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004;  89 4445-4449
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 21 Kok P, Roelfsema F, Langendonk JG. et al . Increased circadian prolactin release is blunted after body weight loss in obese premenopausal women.  Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2006;  290 E218-E224
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 22 Kopelman PG. Hormones and obesity.  Baillieres Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1994;  8 549-575
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 23 Landin-Wilhelmsen K, Lundberg PA, Lappas G. et al . Insulin-like growth factor I levels in healthy adults.  Horm Res. 2004;  62 ((Suppl 1)) 8-16
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 24 Lundberg V, Tolonen H, Stegmayr B. et al . Use of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy in the WHO MONICA project.  Maturitas. 2004;  48 39-49
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 25 Ma CX, Adjei AA, Salavaggione OE. et al . Human aromatase: gene resequencing and functional genomics.  Cancer Res. 2005;  65 11071-11082
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 26 Maccario M, Grottoli S, Aimaretti G. et al . IGF-I levels in different conditions of low somatotrope secretion in adulthood: obesity in comparison with GH deficiency.  Panminerva Med. 1998;  40 98-102
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 27 Maccario M, Ramunni J, Oleandri SE. et al . Relationships between IGF-I and age, gender, body mass, fat distribution, metabolic and hormonal variables in obese patients.  Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1999;  23 612-618
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 28 Marin P, Kvist H, Lindstedt G. et al . Low concentrations of insulin-like growth factor-I in abdominal obesity.  Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1993;  17 83-89
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 29 McTiernan A, Wu L, Chen C. et al . Relation of BMI and physical activity to sex hormones in postmenopausal women.  Obesity (Silver Spring). 2006;  14 1662-1677
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 30 Michalaki MA, Vagenakis AG, Leonardou AS. et al . Thyroid function in humans with morbid obesity.  Thyroid. 2006;  16 73-78
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 31 Mohr BA, Bhasin S, Link CL. et al . The effect of changes in adiposity on testosterone levels in older men: longitudinal results from the Massachusetts Male Aging Study.  Eur J Endocrinol. 2006;  155 443-452
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 32 Murray RD, Adams JE, Shalet SM. Adults with partial growth hormone deficiency have an adverse body composition.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004;  89 1586-1591
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 33 Nam SY, Lee EJ, Kim KR. et al . Effect of obesity on total and free insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, and their relationship to IGF-binding protein (BP)-1, IGFBP-2, IGFBP-3, insulin, and growth hormone.  Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1997;  21 355-359
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 34 Nyrnes A, Jorde R, Sundsfjord J. Serum TSH is positively associated with BMI.  Int J Obes (Lond). 2006;  30 100-105
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 35 Orio Jr F, Palomba S, Cascella T. et al . Cardiovascular complications of obesity in adolescents.  J Endocrinol Invest. 2007;  30 70-80
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 36 Osuna JA, Gomez-Perez R, Arata-Bellabarba G. et al . Relationship between BMI, total testosterone, sex hormone-binding-globulin, leptin, insulin and insulin resistance in obese men.  Arch Androl. 2006;  52 355-361
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 37 Pasquali R, Casimirri F, Cantobelli S. et al . Effect of obesity and body fat distribution on sex hormones and insulin in men.  Metabolism. 1991;  40 101-104
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 38 Peter I, Shearman AM, Vasan RS. et al . Association of estrogen receptor beta gene polymorphisms with left ventricular mass and wall thickness in women.  Am J Hypertens. 2005;  18 1388-1395
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 39 Peter I, Shearman AM, Zucker DR. et al . Variation in estrogen-related genes and cross-sectional and longitudinal blood pressure in the Framingham Heart Study.  J Hypertens. 2005;  23 2193-2200
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 40 Pinkney JH, Goodrick SJ, Katz J. et al . Leptin and the pituitary-thyroid axis: a comparative study in lean, obese, hypothyroid and hyperthyroid subjects.  Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1998;  49 583-588
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 41 Radcliff K, Tang TB, Lim J. et al . Insulin-like growth factor-I regulates proliferation and osteoblastic differentiation of calcifying vascular cells via extracellular signal-regulated protein kinase and phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase pathways.  Circ Res. 2005;  96 398-400
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 42 Rasmussen MH, Frystyk J, Andersen T. et al . The impact of obesity, fat distribution, and energy restriction on insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), IGF-binding protein-3, insulin, and growth hormone.  Metabolism. 1994;  43 315-319
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 43 Sari R, Balci MK, Altunbas H. et al . The effect of body weight and weight loss on thyroid volume and function in obese women.  Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2003;  59 258-262
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 44 Schneider HJ, Glaesmer H, Klotsche J. et al . Accuracy of anthropometric indicators of obesity to predict cardiovascular risk.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2007;  92 589-594
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 45 Schwarz S, Volzke H, Alte D. et al . Gynaecological health care utilization and use of sex hormones – the study of Health in Pomerania.  Hum Reprod. 2005;  20 2916-2922
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 46 Seidell JC, Bjorntorp P, Sjostrom L. et al . Visceral fat accumulation in men is positively associated with insulin, glucose, and C-peptide levels, but negatively with testosterone levels.  Metabolism. 1990;  39 897-901
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 47 Shearman AM, Cooper JA, Kotwinski PJ. et al . Estrogen receptor alpha gene variation and the risk of stroke.  Stroke. 2005;  36 2281-2282
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 48 Shearman AM, Cooper JA, Kotwinski PJ. et al . Estrogen receptor alpha gene variation is associated with risk of myocardial infarction in more than seven thousand men from five cohorts.  Circ Res. 2006;  98 590-592
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 49 Solomon CG, Manson JE. Obesity and mortality: a review of the epidemiologic data.  Am J Clin Nutr. 1997;  66 S1044-S1050
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 50 Span JP, Pieters GF, Sweep FG. et al . Gender differences in rhGH-induced changes in body composition in GH-deficient adults.  J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2001;  86 4161-4165
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 51 Unden AL, Elofsson S, Brismar K. Gender differences in the relation of insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 to cardiovascular risk factors: a population-based study.  Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2005;  63 94-102
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 52 Visscher TL, Seidell JC, Molarius A. et al . A comparison of body mass index, waist-hip ratio and waist circumference as predictors of all-cause mortality among the elderly: the Rotterdam study.  Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2001;  25 1730-1735
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 53 Walsh S, Zmuda JM, Cauley JA. et al . Androgen receptor CAG repeat polymorphism is associated with fat-free mass in men.  J Appl Physiol. 2005;  98 132-137
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 54 Wang Y, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ. et al . Comparison of abdominal adiposity and overall obesity in predicting risk of type 2 diabetes among men.  Am J Clin Nutr. 2005;  81 555-563
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 55 Zitzmann M, Gromoll J, von Eckardstein A. et al . The CAG repeat polymorphism in the androgen receptor gene modulates body fat mass and serum concentrations of leptin and insulin in men.  Diabetologia. 2003;  46 31-39
    PubMedGoogle Scholar

Correspondence

N. FriedrichPhD 

Institute for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine

Ernst Moritz Arndt University

Ferdinand-Sauerbruch-Straße NK

D-17475 Greifswald

Germany

Phone: +49/3834/86 196 55

Fax: +49/3834/86 66 84

Email: nele.friedrich@uni-greifswald.de

      >