Relationship between serum visfatin level and children and adolescent obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Abstract

To examine the relationships between the level of serum visfatin and obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in children and adolescents. Serum visfatin levels of 106 obese children/adolescents (including 49 non-NAFLD children and adolescents and 57 NAFLD children/adolescents in which consisting of 42 mild ones, 15 moderate-to-severe ones) with another 69 lean children/adolescents as their controls, were examined by indirect sandwich ELISA. When comparing the serum visfatin levels, there was no significant difference noticed between the obese group (1.71±0.37) ng/ml and the lean group (1.75±0.37) ng/ml (P=0.455). With the severity of NAFLD, the serum visfatin level showed an elevation in obese children and adolescents [obese without NAFLD (1.59±0.36) ng/ml, obese with mild NAFLD (1.74±0.36) ng/ml, obese with moderate-to-severe NAFLD (1.97±0.36) ng/ml, P<0.05]. In the obese group, serum visfatin levels seemed to be related to age (β=-0.326, P=0.000), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) (β=0.286, P=0.004) and the degree of NAFLD (β=0.246, P=0.014). The level of serum visfatin was related to non-alcoholic fatty liver in obese children and adolescent.