Background and study aim: Liver cirrhosis is the end result of chronic liver disease and it is a dynamic process that ‎needs close monitoring to prevent its progression and complications. Insulin-like growth ‎factor-1 (IGF-1) is an anabolic hormone secreted mainly by the liver. The aim of this ‎study was to evaluate the serum IGF-1 level and its association with the severity of liver ‎disease in patients with liver cirrhosis‎‎.
Method: ‎This study was conducted on 85 patients with liver cirrhosis. Child's classification, ‎MELD, uMELD and IGF-1 were assessed in all patients‎.‎
Results: The studied patients were 45  males and 40  females. Their mean age was 45.25±5.88 ‎ranging from 34-60 years. As regard the severity of liver disease 70.59% of patients were ‎Child C, 16.47% were Child B and 12.94% were Child A. The mean value of IGF-1 was ‎significantly lower in Child C (35.09± 7.74 ng/ml) cirrhotic patients than Child B ‎‎(123.5±41.35 ng/ml) and Child A (249.82±49.11 ng/ml) patients. Also, IGF-1 was ‎significantly lower in patients with MELD score > 17 and uMELD > 4.18. Applying the ‎ROC curves to assess  IGF-1 as a marker of liver disease severity according to Child's, ‎MELD and uMELD scores at  IGF-1  cutoff value of 69.5 µg/ml, 196 µg/ml,196 µg/ml ‎and AUCs were 0.9840, 0.7046, 0.8991 respectively‎. IGF-1 is negatively correlated with the severity of liver disease.
Conclusion: IGF-1 could be used to assess the severity of liver disease in patients with liver ‎cirrhosis‎‎‎.