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. 2018 Aug 17;6(8):1354-1358.
doi: 10.3889/oamjms.2018.312. eCollection 2018 Aug 20.

Serum Apelin and Obesity-Related Complications in Egyptian Children

Maged A El Wakeel  1 , Ghada M El-Kassas  1 , Alyaa H Kamhawy  1 , Essam M Galal  1 , Maysa S Nassar  1 , Elsayed Mahmoud Hammad  2 , Salwa Refat El-Zayat  3
Affiliations

Serum Apelin and Obesity-Related Complications in Egyptian Children

Maged A El Wakeel et al. Open Access Maced J Med Sci. .

Abstract

Background: The rapidly increasing prevalence of childhood obesity became a major burden on health worldwide, giving an alarm to clinicians and researchers. Adipocytes act as an active endocrine organ by releasing plenty of bioactive mediators (adipokines) that play a major role in regulating metabolic processes. Apelin is a recently identified adipokine that is expressed in adipocytes.

Aim: The current work aimed to uncover the relation between serum apelin and childhood obesity and its related complications as hypertension and hyperglycemia.

Method: A group of 50 obese and 31 non-obese; sex- and age-matched children were enrolled in our study with a mean age of (9.5 ± 2.1) and (8.7 ± 1.3) respectively. Anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, were assessed in all studied participants, we also determined the lipid profile, serum insulin, fasting blood glucose (FBG) level, HOMA-IR and serum apelin.

Results: Obese children had higher levels of HbA1c, FBG, serum insulin, HOMA-IR, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP Z-score); compared to controls (all P < 0.05). Apelin was significantly higher in obese children versus controls and correlated positively with BMI Z-Score (P = 0.008), DBP Z-Score (P = 0.02), cholesterol, TG (both P = 0.02), serum insulin (P = 0.003), FBG and HOMA-IR (both P = 0.001). Linear regression analysis showed that FBG was the most effective factor in predicting the level of serum apelin (P = 0.04).

Conclusion: This work supports the hypothesis that apelin may have a crucial role in the pathogenesis of health hazards related to obesity in children including insulin resistance, hypertension and a higher risk of occurrence of metabolic syndrome.

Keywords: Apelin; Children; Metabolic syndrome; Obesity.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Correlation between apelin level and diastolic blood pressure in obese cases
Figure 2
Figure 2
Correlation between apelin level and HOMA-IR in obese cases
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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