Abstract
Background. Childhood obesity is becoming a major health issue and contributes to increasing the risk of cardiovascular disease in adulthood. Since dysregulated metabolism of bile acids (BAs) plays a role in progression of obesity-related disorders, including steatosis and hypertension, this study aimed to investigate BAs profiles in obese children with and without steatosis and hypertension, as well as exploring the interplay between BAs profile and vascular function. Methods. BAs concentrations were quantified with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in 69 overweight/obese children and adolescents (mean age, 11.6 ± 2.5 years; 30 females). Liver steatosis was defined with abdomen ultrasonography, whilst hypertension was defined according to the current European guidelines. Vascular function was assessed with ultrasound technique, by measuring carotid intima media thickness (cIMT) and common carotid artery distensibility (cDC). Results. Total and individual glycine-conjugated BAs concentrations were found to be significantly higher in males compared to females, as well as in pre-pubertal compared to pubertal stage (p < 0.05 for both). No difference in BAs concentration was observed between hypertensive and normotensive subjects. Total BAs and glycine conjugated BAs were significantly higher in participants with steatosis compared to those without (p = 0.004 for both). The values of total glycine-conjugate acids were positively correlated with cDC and this association remained significant in linear regression after adjusting for sex, age, pubertal stage, body mass index and aspartate aminotransferase. Conclusion. The results suggest a possible role of BAs in the pathogenesis of liver and/or vascular damage in children and adolescent. Further studies are hence needed to validate these preliminary findings.
Highlights
The prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to increase worldwide, since these conditions represent one of the leading health issues in both childhood and adulthood [1,2]
Since the values of some bile acids (BAs) were below the limit of quantitation (LOQ) of the assay, BAs detected in less than 75% of the samples were excluded from our statistical analysis
An interesting aspect emerged from our investigation is instead that the BAs profile differs between the two sexes in obese children/adolescents
Summary
The prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to increase worldwide, since these conditions represent one of the leading health issues in both childhood and adulthood [1,2]. Overweight and obese subjects are known to have increased risk of developing nearly every chronic condition (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, dyslipidemia, cancer) [1,2]. Obese children are more likely to maintain an unhealthy weight later in life, becoming obese or overweight [3], and displaying a higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease in adulthood [4]. BAs concentrations were quantified with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry in 69 overweight/obese children and adolescents (mean age, 11.6 ± 2.5 years; 30 females). Further studies are needed to validate these preliminary findings
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