TY - JOUR T1 - Perturbed Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF Binding Protein-3 Are Not Associated with Chronic Widespread Pain in Men: Results from the European Male Ageing Study JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 2523 LP - 2530 DO - 10.3899/jrheum.090113 VL - 36 IS - 11 AU - JOHN McBETH AU - ABDELOUAHID TAJAR AU - TERENCE W. O’NEILL AU - GARY J. MACFARLANE AU - STEPHEN R. PYE AU - GYORGY BARTFAI AU - STEVEN BOONEN AU - ROGER BOUILLON AU - FELIPE CASANUEVA AU - JOSEPH D. FINN AU - GIANNI FORTI AU - ALEKSANDER GIWERCMAN AU - THANG S. HAN AU - ILPO T. HUHTANIEMI AU - KRZYSZTOF KULA AU - MICHAEL E.J. LEAN AU - NEIL PENDLETON AU - MARGUS PUNAB AU - ALAN J. SILMAN AU - DIRK VANDERSCHUEREN AU - FREDERICK C.W. WU AU - and the EMAS Group Y1 - 2009/11/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/36/11/2523.abstract N2 - Objective. To determine whether perturbations of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) were associated with the presence of chronic widespread pain (CWP) in men. Methods. The European Male Ageing Study (EMAS) is an 8-center population-based study of men aged 40–79 years recruited from population registers. A questionnaire asked about the presence and duration of musculoskeletal pain, from which subjects reporting CWP were identified. Subjects also had an interviewer-assisted questionnaire: levels of physical activity and mood were assessed, and height and weight were measured. IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were assayed from a fasting blood sample. Logistic regression models were used to determine the association between IGF measures and CWP. Results were expressed as odds ratios or relative risk ratios. Results. A total of 3206 subjects provided full data. Of those, 1314 (39.0%) reported no pain in the past month and 278 (8.3%) reported pain that satisfied criteria for CWP. IGF-1 concentrations were similar among subjects who reported no pain and those with CWP: 131.5 mg/l and 128.4 mg/l, respectively. This was true also for IGFBP-3 (4.3 and 4.3 mg/l). Obesity was associated with low IGF-1 and a high IGFBP-3/IGF-1 ratio, indicating less bioavailable IGF-1, irrespective of pain status. This relationship persisted after adjustment for comorbidities, depression, smoking, alcohol consumption, and quality of life. Conclusion. Overall CWP was not associated with perturbations in IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 concentrations. Hypofunctioning of the axis was noted among subjects who were obese and this was not specific to CWP. These data suggest that IGF-1 is unlikely to be etiologically important in relation to CWP, although the relationship with growth hormone remains to be elucidated. ER -