Objective: To investigate the changes of serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), insulin-like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP-3), 25 hydroxyvitamin D[25 (0H) D] and cortisol levels in children with idiopathic short stature (ISS) before and after treatment, and their correlation with physical development and bone age. Methods: 88 children with ISS who were admitted to our hospital from July 2017 to March 2021 were selected as the study group. Another 88 healthy children for physical examination at the same period were selected as the control group. The levels of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3, 25 (OH) D and cortisol were compared between the two groups. The levels of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3, 25 (OH) D, cortisol, physical indexes and bone age indexes were compared before and after treatment. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between the levels of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3, 25 (OH) D and cortisol and physical indexes and bone age indexes in children with ISS. Results: The levels of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and 25 (OH) D in the study group were lower than those in the control group, while the levels of cortisol were higher than those in the control group (all P<0.05). The levels of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and 25 (OH) D in children with ISS after treatment were higher than those before treatment, while the levels of cortisol were lower than those before treatment (all P<0.05). The height, weight, bone age difference (BAD), bone age index (BAI) and body mass index (BMI) of children with ISS after treatment were higher than those before treatment (all P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis showed that the levels of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and 25 (OH) D in children with ISS were positively correlated with height, weight, BAD, BAI and BMI. Cortisol was negatively correlated with height, weight, BAD, BAI and BMI (all P<0.05). Conclusions: The levels of serum IGF-1, IGFBP-3 and 25 (OH) D in children with ISS decreased abnormally, and the level of cortisol increased. The above four indexes are related to height, weight, BAD and BAI. |