Decrease in serum adiponectin level due to obesity and visceral fat accumulation in children.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether serum adiponectin is decreased in obesity and is restored toward normal level after treatment in children.


METHODS
Subjects were 53 Japanese obese children, 33 boys and 20 girls (6 to 14 years old), and 30 age-matched nonobese controls for measuring adiponectin (16 boys and 14 girls). Blood was drawn after an overnight fast, and the obese children were subjected to anthropometric measurements including waist and hip circumferences and skinfold thicknesses. Paired samples were obtained from 21 obese children who underwent psychoeducational therapy. Visceral adipose tissue area was measured by computed tomography. Adiponectin was assayed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
The serum levels of alanine aminotransferase, uric acid, triglyceride, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, total cholesterol/high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, apo B, apo B/apo A(1), and insulin in obese children were higher than the reference values. Serum adiponectin level was lower in the obese children than in the controls (6.4 +/- 0.6 vs. 10.2 +/- 0.8 mg/L, means +/- SEM, p < 0.001). In 21 obese children whose percent overweight declined during therapy, the adiponectin level increased (p = 0.002). The adiponectin level was correlated inversely with visceral adipose tissue area in obese children (r = -0.531, p < 0.001). The inverse correlations of adiponectin with alanine aminotransferase, uric acid, and insulin were significant after being adjusted for percentage overweight, percentage body fat, or sex.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum adiponectin level is decreased in obese children depending on the accumulation of visceral fat and is restored toward normal level by slimming.
Asayama
Kohtaro
K
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Iseigaoka, Kitakyushu, Japan. kasayama@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp
Hayashibe
Hidemasa
H
Dobashi
Kazushige
K
Uchida
Norihiko
N
Nakane
Takaya
T
Kodera
Kohji
K
Shirahata
Akira
A
Taniyama
Matsuo
M
D052242:Adiponectin; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000886:Anthropometry; D001053:Apolipoproteins / Q000097:blood; D001823:Body Composition; D001824:Body Constitution; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000628:therapy; D011506:Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood; D014781:Viscera / Q000378:metabolism; D015431:Weight Loss / Q000502:physiology*
D052242:Adiponectin; D001053:Apolipoproteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008055:Lipids; D011506:Proteins; D014527:Uric Acid; D002784:Cholesterol; D000410:Alanine Transaminase