Can Uric Acid Be A Marker For Metabolically Unhealthy Obesity in Children and Adolescents?

Abstract

Aim: In this study it was investigated whether there is a difference between metabolically healthy (MHO) and unhealthy (MUO) obese children regarding laboratory results, especially serum uric acid levels. Patients and Methods: Data of 220 individuals diagnosed with obesity were collected from medical records. Obese individuals without cardiovascular risk factors (fasting serum lipids, blood pressure, and glucose) were classified as MHO (n=124). Individuals meeting one or more criteria of cardiovascular risk factors were classified as MUO (n=96). The control group was composed of 111 healthy individuals. Results: The mean age of the participants was 12.14±3.28 years, including 44.4% (n=147) were males. While there was statistical significance regarding uric acid between obese and healthy individuals (308.11±71.97 umol/L (5.18±1.21 mg/dl), 251.6±70.78 umol/L (4.23±1.19 mg/dl), Z=6.670, p<0.001, respectively). No statistical significance was found between MHO and MUO groups (302.16±69 umol/L (5.08±1.16 mg/dl), 315.84±74.94 umol/L (5.31±1.26 mg/dl), Z=1.265, p=0.206, respectively). However, uric acid had a significant correlation with many variables, such as weight, height, body mass index, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein and serum insulin levels, but the strongest being with weight (Spearman r=0.525, p<0.001). Moreover, there was no difference between these 3 groups concerning platelet count, mean platelet volume, and platelet distribution width (H; p, 3.620; 0.164, 1.624; 0.444, and 1.948; 0.378, respectively). Conclusions: This study showed that uric acid level is higher in obese than healthy controls and the most significant correlation with weight. However, uric acid alone is not a good indicator between MHO and MUO groups.