Association of circulating adipokines with insulin resistance in obese children

Abstract

Inflammation and insulin resistance are linked in obesity, and this association may also exist in childhood obesity. The objective of this study was to identify the relationship between circulating levels of selected adipokines and insulin resistance in obese children. Adiponectin, resistin, interleukin 18 (IL‐18), monocyte chemotactic protein 1 (MCP‐1), high‐sensitive C‐reactive protein (hsCRP) along with body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose and insulin, homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA IR) were determined in a total of 50 Chinese obese children. 30 age‐matched lean children served as controls. All obese children were further classified into subgroups based on tertiles of BMI and HOMA IR. Obese children had significantly higher BMI, fasting insulin, HOMA IR, IL‐18, hsCRP and lower adiponectin than lean children. There were no significant differences in plasma levels of resistin and MCP‐1 between obese and lean children, but obese children with HOMA IR in the top tertile had significantly higher BMI, MCP‐1, and resistin than obese children with HOMA IR in the bottom tertile. Degree of obesity in obesity children was significantly associated with insulin resistance. In addition, both resistin and MCP‐1 in obese children were positively correlated with BMI and HOMA IR. Our findings suggest the elevation of selected adipokines in obese children corresponds with the degree of obesity based on BMI and this phenomenon is associated with insulin resistance.