Abstract
BackgroundChildhood overweight and obesity are a global concern, with prevalence rising dramatically over the last decades. The condition is caused by an increase in energy intake and reduction of physical activity, leading to excessive fat accumulation, followed by systemic chronic inflammation and altered function of immune cell responses. This study aimed at providing new insights regarding sex-specificity on the inflammatory response to obesity in the young patient.DesignForty-three Brazilian obese adolescents (Female = 22 and Male=21, BMI (body mass index) Z-score average = 2.78 ± 0.51) and forty-nine eutrophic adolescents (Female = 24 and Male = 25, BMI Z-score average = −0.35 ± 0.88) were enrolled in the study. Anthropometrical analyses and blood cell counts were carried out. Using Luminex®xMAP™ technology, circulating serum cytokines, chemokines, and inflammatory biomarkers were analyzed. Two-way ANOVA test, Tukey’s test, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient were employed, with a significance threshold set at p < 0.05.ResultsWe identified increased levels of serum amyloid A (SAA), platelets, and leukocytes solely in male obese patients. We found a noteworthy sex-dependent pattern in regard to inflammatory response: obese boys showed higher TNFβ, IL15, and IL2 and lower IL10 and IL13, while obese girls showed increased TNFα, CCL3, CCL4, and IP10 content in the circulation. BMI Z-score was significantly linearly correlated with neutrophils, leukocytes, platelets, SAA, TNFα, CCL3, CCL4, IP10, and IL13 levels within the entire cohort (non-sex-dependent).ConclusionsOur data support a complex relationship between adiposity, blood cell count, and circulating inflammatory cytokine content. High SAA levels suggest that this factor may play a critical role in local and systemic inflammation. In the eutrophic group, females presented a lower status of inflammation, as compared to males. Both obese boys and girls showed an increased inflammatory response in relation to eutrophic counterparts. Taken together, results point out to clear sex dimorphism in the inflammatory profile of obese adolescents.
Highlights
São Paulo, BrazilOverweight and obesity are considered a worldwide epidemic, having nearly triplicated over the last decades in both industrialized and developing countries [1]
Comparing eutrophic females and males post hoc analyses, we found that males showed significantly increased concentration of circulating inflammatory factors, such as IL-6 (p = 0.005), IL-1RA (p = 0.005), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (p < 0.0001), TNF-β (p = 0.016), IL15 (p = 0.0001), IL-2 (p = 0.001), IL-10 (p = 0.004), IL-13 (p = 0.005), IP-10 (p = 0.039), CCL3 (p = 0.0002), CCL4 (p = 0.001), relative to eutrophic females
We evaluated a Brazilian eutrophic and obese adolescent cohort, in an attempt to elucidate possible sexual dimorphism in childhood obesity responses
Summary
São Paulo, BrazilOverweight and obesity are considered a worldwide epidemic, having nearly triplicated over the last decades in both industrialized and developing countries [1]. A study showed that higher BMI during childhood (7–13 years of age) is associated with an increased risk of CVD in adulthood [9]. The condition is caused by an increase in energy intake and reduction of physical activity, leading to excessive fat accumulation, followed by systemic chronic inflammation and altered function of immune cell responses. We found a noteworthy sex-dependent pattern in regard to inflammatory response: obese boys showed higher TNFβ, IL15, and IL2 and lower IL10 and IL13, while obese girls showed increased TNFα, CCL3, CCL4, and IP10 content in the circulation. Females presented a lower status of inflammation, as compared to males Both obese boys and girls showed an increased inflammatory response in relation to eutrophic counterparts. Results point out to clear sex dimorphism in the inflammatory profile of obese adolescents
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