Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

DOI

10.1089/neur.2025.0009

Publication Title

Neurotrauma Reports

Volume

6

Issue

1

Pages

345-354

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI)-related growth hormone deficiency is often undertreated, despite documented physical, metabolic, and neuropsychiatric effects. Insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), with neuroreceptors located in brain regions responsible for learning, memory, and mood, regulates cerebral blood flow, neurogenesis, and neuroplasticity. The aim of this study was to determine associations between IGF-1 levels and post-TBI symptom severity, anxiety, and depression. This retrospective observational study at an Academic Brain Injury Center included participants evaluated 3-12 months post-TBI with available IGF-1 values and complete Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ-13), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) responses. Patients under 18 or over 65 and those with incomplete data were excluded. Participants were grouped by TBI severity: mild (Glasgow Coma Scale [GCS] 13-15) and moderate-to-severe (GCS < 13). IGF-1 Z-scores were standardized for age and gender. Significant negative correlations were found between IGF-1 levels and RPQ-13, GAD-7, and PHQ-9 scores across all TBI severity groups, with lower IGF-1 Z-scores correlating with higher symptoms of TBI, depression, and anxiety. The Generalized Linear Models showed that the IGF-1 Z-score is a significant predictor for GAD-7, PHQ-9, and RPQ-13. Specifically, a one-point increase in the IGF-1 Z-score is associated with a 29.85% decrease in anxiety symptoms on the GAD-7, a 16.30% reduction in depression severity on the PHQ-9, and a 39.23% decrease in post-TBI symptom severity on the RPQ-13. Findings suggest that decreased IGF-1 is associated with increased post-injury symptom severity, depression, and anxiety. Future studies should explore IGF-1 as a biomarker for TBI symptom severity.

Rights

© The Authors 2025.

This open access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Original Publication Citation

Weppner, J., Rosenthal, K., Bath, J., Locklear, T., & Martinez, M. (2025). IGF-1 as a biomarker for symptom severity in adult traumatic brain injury: Evidence from an observational study. Neurotrauma Reports, 6(1), 345-354. https://doi.org/10.1089/neur.2025.0009

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