Diagnostic roles of serum FGFR2 and leptin in short stature and their correlations with IGF-1 and IGFBP-3

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1673-8640.2026.08.005

Abstract

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the correlations between serum fibroblast growth factor receptor 2（FGFR2），leptin，insulin-like growth factor-1（IGF-1） and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3（IGFBP-3） in children with short stature. Methods A total of 130 children with short stature（short stature group） and 60 healthy children（healthy control group） were enrolled from Tangshan Maternal and Child Health Hospital from July 2022 to July 2024. The short stature group was further classified into growth hormone deficiency（GHD） group（56 cases） and idiopathic short stature（ISS） group（74 cases） based on the peak value of growth hormone（GH）. The clinical data were collected，and serum levels of FGFR2，leptin，IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 were determined. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the influencing factors of short stature onset. Pearson correlation analysis was used to assess the correlations between serum FGFR2，leptin and IGF-1，IGFBP-3. Receiver operating characteristic（ROC） curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of FGFR2 and leptin for short stature onset. Interaction coefficient analysis was used to assess the interaction between serum FGFR2 and leptin on the onset of short stature. Results The height of GHD group and ISS group was lower than that of healthy control group（P<0.05），and the proportions of daily sleep deprivation and the frequency of weekly physical exercise among the 3 groups were statistically significant（P<0.05）. The serum levels of FGFR2，leptin，IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in GHD group and ISS group were lower than those in healthy control group（P<0.05）. Serum FGFR2，leptin，IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in short stature children were positively correlated（P<0.05）. After adjusting for confounding factors（daily sleep deprivation，the frequency of weekly physical exercise），the decrease in serum FGFR2，leptin，IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 levels was a risk factor for the onset of short stature（P<0.05）. The areas under curves（AUC） of FGFR2，leptin，IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 for diagnosing GHD were 0.739，0.729 and 0.856，respectively，and those for diagnosing ISS were 0.763，0.743 and 0.863，respectively. The interaction coefficient analysis showed that the low levels of serum FGFR2 and leptin were in a secondary multiplicative model and had a positive interaction in the occurrence of GHD and ISS（P<0.05）. Conclusions Decreased levels of FGFR2 and leptin are related to the occurrence of short stature. They have a positive interaction in the occurrence of GHD and ISS，and are positively correlated with the levels of IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 in children. Serum FGFR2 and leptin may be one of the indicators for screening and diagnosing short stature.

Key words: Fibroblast growth factor receptor 2, Leptin, Insulin-like growth factor 1, Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3, Idiopathic short stature, Growth hormone deficiency

CLC Number:

R446.62

DANG Chunmei, LIANG Kun, CHEN Lijuan. Diagnostic roles of serum FGFR2 and leptin in short stature and their correlations with IGF-1 and IGFBP-3[J]. Laboratory Medicine, 2026, 41(8): 750-756.

Figures/Tables 9

References 28

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组别	例数	年龄/岁		性别		体重/kg	身高/cm		BMI/ （kg·m^-2）
组别	例数	年龄/岁		男/例	女/例	体重/kg	身高/cm		BMI/ （kg·m^-2）
GHD组	56	9.16±1.38		31	25	29.34±6.83	128.63±14.23^*		17.73±4.67
ISS组	74	9.29±1.59		38	36	28.72±7.04	131.74±13.98^*		16.55±4.30
正常对照组	60	9.31±1.52		30	30	31.14±8.22	136.19±15.26		16.79±4.81
统计值		0.170		0.361		1.862	5.257		1.131
P值		0.843		0.835		0.158	0.006		0.325
组别	父亲身高/cm		母亲身高/cm			每日睡眠不足/例	每周体育锻炼频次			家庭年收入
组别	父亲身高/cm		母亲身高/cm			每日睡眠不足/例	<3次/例	≥3次/例		<15万/例	≥15万/例
GHD组	172.91±14.59		161.27±11.18			24	27	29		27	29
ISS组	173.42±12.57		159.94±11.85			27	22	52		35	39
正常对照组	172.65±13.61		160.98±12.46			13	15	45		24	36
统计值	0.057		0.232			6.249	7.837			0.991
P值	0.945		0.793			0.044	0.020			0.609

组别	例数	年龄/岁		性别		体重/kg	身高/cm		BMI/ （kg·m^-2）
组别	例数	年龄/岁		男/例	女/例	体重/kg	身高/cm		BMI/ （kg·m^-2）
GHD组	56	9.16±1.38		31	25	29.34±6.83	128.63±14.23^*		17.73±4.67
ISS组	74	9.29±1.59		38	36	28.72±7.04	131.74±13.98^*		16.55±4.30
正常对照组	60	9.31±1.52		30	30	31.14±8.22	136.19±15.26		16.79±4.81
统计值		0.170		0.361		1.862	5.257		1.131
P值		0.843		0.835		0.158	0.006		0.325
组别	父亲身高/cm		母亲身高/cm			每日睡眠不足/例	每周体育锻炼频次			家庭年收入
组别	父亲身高/cm		母亲身高/cm			每日睡眠不足/例	<3次/例	≥3次/例		<15万/例	≥15万/例
GHD组	172.91±14.59		161.27±11.18			24	27	29		27	29
ISS组	173.42±12.57		159.94±11.85			27	22	52		35	39
正常对照组	172.65±13.61		160.98±12.46			13	15	45		24	36
统计值	0.057		0.232			6.249	7.837			0.991
P值	0.945		0.793			0.044	0.020			0.609

组别	例数	FGFR2/（pg·mL^-1）	瘦素/（μg·L^-1）	IGF-1/（ng·mL^-1）	IGFBP-3/（μg·mL^-1）
矮小症组	130	91.13±22.30^*	3.27±0.79^*	161.94±23.51^*	3.77±0.63^*
GHD组	56	87.16±16.37^*	3.12±0.69^*	149.53±13.57^*	3.43±0.42^*
ISS组	74	94.14±20.53^*	3.39±0.65^*	171.34±21.62^*	4.02±0.51^*
正常对照组	60	126.72±40.21	3.97±0.77	302.35±64.87	5.17±0.46
F值		35.530	22.588	263.519	209.005
P值		<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001

组别	例数	FGFR2/（pg·mL^-1）	瘦素/（μg·L^-1）	IGF-1/（ng·mL^-1）	IGFBP-3/（μg·mL^-1）
矮小症组	130	91.13±22.30^*	3.27±0.79^*	161.94±23.51^*	3.77±0.63^*
GHD组	56	87.16±16.37^*	3.12±0.69^*	149.53±13.57^*	3.43±0.42^*
ISS组	74	94.14±20.53^*	3.39±0.65^*	171.34±21.62^*	4.02±0.51^*
正常对照组	60	126.72±40.21	3.97±0.77	302.35±64.87	5.17±0.46
F值		35.530	22.588	263.519	209.005
P值		<0.001	<0.001	<0.001	<0.001

指标	FGFR2		瘦素
指标	r值	P值	r值	P值
IGF-1	0.736	<0.001	0.704	<0.001
IGFBP-3	0.683	<0.001	0.643	<0.001