This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 92/8/3025    most recent Author Manuscript (PDF) Submit a related Letter to the Editor Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Copyright Permission Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Beauloye, V. Articles by Brichard, S. M. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Beauloye, V. Articles by Brichard, S. M. Related Collections Cardiovascular Endocrinology Obesity Pediatric Endocrinology Lipid

Determinants of Early Atherosclerosis in Obese Children and Adolescents

Unité d’Endocrinologie Pédiatrique (V.B., H.T.T.M., M.M.), Department of Internal Medicine (F.Z.), Service de Radiologie Pédiatrique (P.C.), and Unité d’Endocrinologie et Métabolisme (S.M.B.), Université Catholique de Louvain, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Véronique Beauloye, M.D., Ph.D., Unité d’Endocrinologie Pédiatrique, Department of Pediatrics, Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc, UCL 1300, Avenue Hippocrate, 10, B-1200 Brussels, Belgium. E-mail: veronique.beauloye{at}pedi.ucl.ac.be.

Context: Obesity in childhood is associated with an increased mortality due to cardiovascular (CV) diseases in adulthood, independent of adult weight. Recent studies in children indicate that the atherosclerosis process starts at an early age and is linked to obesity.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate determinants of increased carotid intima-media thickness (IMT), an early marker of atherosclerosis, in obese children.

Design: A total of 104 obese children [age, 12.7 ± 0.2 yr; body mass index (BMI)-z-score, 2.8 ± 0.7] underwent an oral glucose tolerance test. Fasting levels of glucose, insulin, C-reactive protein and adhesion molecules (sICAM, sVCAM, sE-selectin), lipid profile, adiponectin, and resistin were determined. IMT was measured by ultrasound. Insulin resistance was estimated by the homeostatic model assessment index. Baseline measurements of blood parameters were obtained from 93 nonobese children (age, 13.0 ± 0.2 yr; BMI-z-score, –0.2 ± 0.9), and IMT was measured in 23 other control children with similar characteristics.

Results: Univariate analysis showed a significant positive correlation between IMT and relative BMI, the degree of systolic hypertension, fasting insulin levels, homeostatic model assessment-R index, and resistin concentrations, whereas an inverse correlation with adiponectin levels was found. No correlation was obtained between IMT and classical CV risk factors such as positive familial history of type 2 diabetes or precocious CV disease, visceral obesity, or the lipid profile. C-reactive protein and adhesion molecule levels were not associated with IMT in our obese population. When controlled for sex, Tanner stage, and relative BMI, only adiponectin levels remained an independent determinant of IMT.

Conclusion: Adiponectin more than conventional CV risk factors and inflammation status may be related to early atherosclerosis in obese children.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				D. Gozal, O. S. Capdevila, and L. Kheirandish-Gozal Metabolic Alterations and Systemic Inflammation in Obstructive Sleep Apnea among Nonobese and Obese Prepubertal Children Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., May 15, 2008; 177(10): 1142 - 1149. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]