Birthweight and risk factors for cardiovascular diseases in Japanese schoolchildren.
BACKGROUND
Low birthweight (LBW) is associated with an increased risk for atherosclerotic coronary heart disease (ACHD) later in life. However, little information is currently available on the relationship between birthweight (BW) and risk factors for ACHD in children.


METHODS
The relationship between BW and risk factors for ACHD was evaluated in 330 Japanese children (187 boys and 143 girls) aged between 7 and 12 years, who underwent screening for lifestyle-related diseases in Okinawa, Japan. Routine chemical methods were used to determine the serum concentrations of lipids, apolipoproteins, uric acid and glucose. Serum insulin and adiponectin were measured by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
BW was significantly correlated with serum concentrations of adiponectin (r= 0.163, P= 0.003) and uric acid (r=-0.166. P= 0.003), but not with insulin, lipids or apolipoproteins. These correlations were still significant even after adjusting for age, gender and body mass index (BMI) percentile (BW and adiponectin, r= 0.239, P= 0.000; BW and uric acid, r=-0.247, P= 0.000). In addition, BW was correlated with high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) only after adjusting for age, gender and BMI percentile (r= 0.117, P= 0.034). In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, BW was a significant predictive variable for adiponectin and uric acid. However, weight velocity (weight gain/year) was a stronger predictive variable than BW for both adiponectin and uric acid. BW was not a significant predictive variable for HDL-C. Adiponectin was the strongest predictive variable for HDL-C.


CONCLUSIONS
BW is related to serum concentrations of adiponectin and uric acid. However, weight velocity was a stronger determinant of serum adiponectin and uric acid levels than BW in Japanese schoolchildren. Thus, it may be important to control weight gain to prevent the development of ACHD in children, especially in children with LBW.
Kaneshi
Takuya
T
Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan.
Yoshida
Tomohide
T
Ohshiro
Tatsuo
T
Nagasaki
Hiraku
H
Asato
Yoshihide
Y
Ohta
Takao
T
D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood; D001724:Birth Weight; D002648:Child; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood
D052242:Adiponectin; D014527:Uric Acid