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Updated: Jul 5, 2026
Evaluation of Colorectal Cancer Risk and Prevalence by Stool DNA Integrity Detection
Published on: June 8, 2020
Local IGFBP-3 mRNA expression, apoptosis and risk of colorectal adenomas
Temitope O Keku1, Robert S Sandler, James G Simmons
1Department of Medicine and Center for Gastrointestinal Biology & Disease, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA. tokeku@med.unc.edu
Background:
IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) regulates the bioavailability of insulin-like growth factors I and II, and has both anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic properties. Elevated plasma IGFBP-3 has been associated with reduced risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), but the role of tissue IGFBP-3 is not well defined. We evaluated the association between tissue or plasma IGFBP-3 and risk of colorectal adenomas or low apoptosis.
Methods:
Subjects were consenting patients who underwent a clinically indicated colonoscopy at UNC Hospitals and provided information on diet and lifestyle. IGFBP-3 mRNA in normal colon was assessed by real time RT-PCR. Plasma IGFBP-3 was measured by ELISA and apoptosis was determined by morphology on H & E slides. Logistic regression was used to compute odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals.
Results:
We observed a modest correlation between plasma IGFBP-3 and tissue IGFBP-3 expression (p = 0.007). There was no significant association between plasma IGFBP-3 and adenomas or apoptosis. Tissue IGFBP-3 mRNA expression was significantly lower in cases than controls. Subjects in the lowest three quartiles of tissue IGFBP-3 gene expression were more likely to have adenomas. Consistent with previous reports, low apoptosis was significantly associated with increased risk of adenomas (p = 0.003). Surprisingly, local IGFBP-3 mRNA expression was inversely associated with apoptosis.
Conclusion:
Low expression of IGFBP-3 mRNA in normal colonic mucosa predicts increased risk of adenomas. Our findings suggest that local IGFBP-3 in the colon may directly increase adenoma risk but IGFBP-3 may act through a pathway other than apoptosis to influence adenoma risk.
