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. 2021 Mar 9;11(3):485.
doi: 10.3390/diagnostics11030485.

Inflammation-Related Markers and Thyroid Function Measures in Pediatric Patients: Is the Grade of Obesity Relevant?

Ioana Țaranu  1   2 , Cecilia Lazea  2   3 , Victoria Creț  2 , Nicoleta Răcătăianu  4 , Mihaela Iancu  1 , Sorana D Bolboacă  1
Affiliations

Inflammation-Related Markers and Thyroid Function Measures in Pediatric Patients: Is the Grade of Obesity Relevant?

Ioana Țaranu et al. Diagnostics (Basel). .

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the effect of weight status on inflammation-related markers and thyroid function tests in overweight and obese pediatric patients. Children and adolescents diagnosed between January 2017 and January 2019 with overweight or obesity were included in the study. Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and systemic immune-inflammation index (SII) were calculated for the groups defined according to Body Mass Index (BMI)-for-age z-score: overweight (≥1 BMI-for-age z-score), obese (≥2 BMI-for-age z-score) and severely obese (≥3 BMI-for-age z-score). Severely obese patients had significantly higher value of white blood cells (WBC) counts (median = 7.92) compared with overweight patients (7.37, p = 0.014). Absolute lymphocyte count was significantly associated with obesity degree in children (Spearman's Rho coefficient ρ = 0.228. p = 0.035), whereas absolute polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMNCs) count was significantly higher in severely obese adolescents than overweight adolescents (overweight: 4.04 vs. severely obese: 5.3 (p = 0.029)). In 8.19% of patients an elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) level was found, and 3.36% of patients had a low level of free thyroxine with an elevated level of TSH. Total absolute WBC count may be a reliable inflammation-related marker in obese pediatric patients without metabolic syndrome, but needs to be validated in the context of all possible covariates. Subclinical and overt hypothyroidism may develop from an early age in overweight or obese patients.

Keywords: differential leukocyte count; inflammation; pediatric obesity; thyroid function tests.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Matrix of scatter plots of correlations between BMI-for-age z-scores and inflammation-related markers stratified by age groups.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Bar and Dot plots with median and interquartile range of differential white cell subgroups by age group and obesity class. The upper bound of each age group is not included in the range. Abbreviations: WBC = total absolute white blood cells count; PMNCs = absolute polymorphonuclear neutrophils absolute counts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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