Associations between thyroid-stimulating hormone, blood pressure and adiponectin are attenuated in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity.

Abstract

Background The association between thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) concentrations and blood pressure is well described in adults, but only studied to a limited extent in children and adolescents and almost entirely in population-based cohorts. The present study investigates the association between TSH and blood pressure, and the influence of leptin and adiponectin, in a cohort of children and adolescents enrolled in obesity treatment compared with a population-based cohort. Methods We studied 4154 children and adolescents aged 6-18 years from an obesity clinic cohort and a population-based cohort from The Danish Childhood Obesity Data- and Biobank. Anthropometrics, blood pressure and biochemical markers, including TSH, leptin and adiponectin concentrations, were collected. Adjusted correlation and interaction analyses were performed. Results Patients from the obesity clinic cohort exhibited higher concentrations of TSH and higher blood pressure than participants from the population-based cohort. TSH standard deviation scores (SDS) were significantly associated with all blood pressure-related variables in the population-based cohort, but only with systolic blood pressure SDS and hypertension in the obesity clinic cohort. The interaction between TSH SDS and adiponectin was found to be independently associated with systolic blood pressure and hypertension in the population-based cohort only. Conclusions The significant associations between TSH, adiponectin and blood pressure, observed in children and adolescents from a population-based cohort, are attenuated or absent in children and adolescents with overweight or obesity, suggesting that childhood obesity distorts the healthy interplay between the thyroid axis, thyroid-adipokine interaction and blood pressure.