Relationship between Levels of Pre-Stroke Physical Activity and Post-Stroke Serum Insulin-Like Growth Factor I
N. David Åberg,
Gustaf Gadd,
Daniel Åberg,
Peter Hällgren,
Christian Blomstrand,
Katarina Jood,
Michael Nilsson,
Fredrick R. Walker,
Johan Svensson,
Christina Jern,
Jörgen Isgaard
Affiliations
N. David Åberg
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-41345 Gothenburg, Sweden
Gustaf Gadd
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-41345 Gothenburg, Sweden
Daniel Åberg
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-41345 Gothenburg, Sweden
Peter Hällgren
Region Västra Götaland, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg SE-41345, Sweden
Christian Blomstrand
Department for Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Katarina Jood
Department for Clinical Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden
Michael Nilsson
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, the University of Newcastle, University Dr, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Fredrick R. Walker
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and the Priority Research Centre for Stroke and Brain Injury, the University of Newcastle, University Dr, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
Johan Svensson
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-41345 Gothenburg, Sweden
Christina Jern
Department of Laboratory Medicine, Institute of Biomedicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-41345 Gothenburg, Sweden
Jörgen Isgaard
Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Medicine, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, SE-41345 Gothenburg, Sweden
Physical activity (PA) and insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) have beneficial effects for patients who have suffered an ischemic stroke (stroke). However, the relationship between the levels of PA and IGF-I after stroke has not been explored in detail. We investigated the pre-stroke PA level in relation to the post-stroke serum IGF-I (s-IGF-I) level, at baseline and at 3 months after the index stroke, and calculated the change that occurred between these two time-points (ΔIGF-I). Patients (N = 380; 63.4% males; mean age, 54.7 years) with data on 1-year leisure-time pre-stroke PA and post-stroke s-IGF-I levels were included from the Sahlgrenska Academy Study on Ischemic Stroke (SAHLSIS). Stroke severity was assessed using the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). Pre-stroke, leisure-time PA was self-reported as PA1−4, with PA1 representing sedentary and PA2−4 indicating progressively higher PA levels. Associations between s-IGF-I and PA were evaluated by multiple linear regressions with PA1 as the reference and adjustments being made for sex, age, history of previous stroke or myocardial infarctions, cardiovascular risk factors, and stroke severity. PA correlated with baseline s-IGF-I and ΔIGF-I, but not with the 3-month s-IGF-I. In the linear regressions, there were corresponding associations that remained as a tendency (baseline s-IGF-I, p = 0.06) or as a significant effect (ΔIGF-I, p = 0.03) after all the adjustments. Specifically, for each unit of PA, ΔIGF-I increased by 9.7 (95% CI 1,1−18.4) ng/mL after full adjustment. This supports the notion that pre-stroke PA is independently related to ΔIGF-I.
