Prevalence of metabolic syndrome and serum profile of adipokines (leptin and adiponectin) in children with overweight or obesity

Abstract

Background. Metabolic syndrome is an important risk factor for cardiovascular diseases. Objective. To evaluate the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and serum profile of adipokines in children with overweight or obesity. Methods. Fifty two out of 62 referred children were included in the study, with a body mass index (BMI) that exceeded 85 th percentile. Waist circumference and blood pressure (BP) were recorded, followed by the determination of: glucose, cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, insulin, adiponectin and leptin. The insulin resistance was then calculated by HOMA2 index. Results. Of the 52 children included, 28.8% have met the criteria for diagnosis of metabolic syndrome. BMI and BP values were higher in children with metabolic syndrome. The higher values of leptin (69.59 ± 50;89 vs. 58.44 ± 42.28 ng/ml) and insulin resistance (1.65 ± 0.74 vs. 1.41± 0.78) in the group with metabolic syndrome were without statistical significance. We found a positive correlation, statistically significant between BMI and serum leptin (r = 0.32, p =0.02), BMI and plasma insulin (r = 0.33, p =0.01), BMI and insulin resistance (r=0.33, p=0.01), respectively. This was not noticed for serum adiponectin. Conclusion. Metabolic syndrome has a high prevalence in childhood obesity. Serum leptin (but not adiponectin) seem to have a very good correlation with some clinical and bioumoral features of the metabolic syndrome.