Effect of Maternal BMI and Type of Infants Feeding on IGF-1 in Infant

IGF-I is a mitogenic and antiapoptotic. paracrine growth factor expressed in all fetal organ. and is essential in fetal and neonatal growth, differentiation and development Several lines of evidence suggest that IGF-I levels are associated with birth weight -furthermore higher IGF-I levels are associated with higher BW, but not with lower birth weight\]. In adulthood, elevated concentrations of IGF-I are associated with an increased risk of obesity and many cancers, including breast, lung, head and neck, colorectal, pancreas, synovial sarcoma, and prostate canc. Although concentrations of circulating IGF-I levels vary considerably by race/ethnicity and maternal pre-pregnancy obesity, few studies included African American women an ethnic group that has an almost 9% higher BMI than European-American women