Associations of serum insulin-like growth factor-I and insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3 levels with biomarker-calibrated protein, dairy product and milk intake in the Women's Health Initiative

It is well-established that protein-energy malnutrition decreases serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) levels, and supplementation of 30 grams of whey protein daily increased serum IGF-1 levels by 8% after 2 years in a clinical trial(1). Cohort studies provide the opportunity to assess associations between dietary protein intake and the IGF-axis under more typical eating conditions. We studied the associations of circulating IGF-axis protein levels (ELISA, Diagnostic Systems Laboratories) with total biomarker-calibrated protein intake, as well as dairy and milk intake, among postmenopausal women enrolled in the Women's Health Initiative (n=747). Analyses were conducted using multivariate linear regression models that adjusted for age, BMI, race/ethnicity, education, biomarker-calibrated energy, alcohol, smoking, physical activity, and hormone therapy use. There was a positive association between milk intake and free-IGF-1. A 3 serving increase in milk intake per day (~30 grams of protein) was associated with an estimated average 18.6% higher increase in free IGF-1 (95% CI 0.9% to 39.3%). Total IGF-I and IGFBP-3, however, were not associated with milk consumption, nor were there associations between biomarker-calibrated protein intake, biomarker-calibrated energy, and free IGF-I, total IGF-I, or IGFBP-3. This study of postmenopausal women is consistent with clinical trial data suggesting a specific relationship between milk consumption and serum IGF-I levels; albeit, in our dataset, this association was only statistically significant for free, but not total, IGF-I nor IGFBP-3.