title: Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels in overweight children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The association of childhood overweight with cardiovascular risk factors seems to change by sex and age, which may indicate that hormonal status could be the cause of this different association. In this study, we analyzed the relationship of dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S) with the alterations associated with overweight by analyzing the influence of this hormone in the differences found in biochemical variables between normal-weight and overweight prepubertal children. RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGN: The study included 684 6- to 8-year-old children (350 boys and 334 girls) categorized by the presence or absence of overweight, according to the age- and sex-specific cut-off points proposed for children. Lipid levels were determined by standard methods. DHEA-S and insulin levels were measured by radioimmunoassay. Biochemical variables were compared between normal-weight and overweight children by tertiles of DHEA-S.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed that plasma high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and apolipoprotein (apo)-AI levels were significantly lower in overweight than in normal-weight boys only in the highest tertile of DHEA-S. No significant differences in plasma glucose levels, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, or apo B were found between overweight and normal-weight children in any DHEA-S tertile. In a Spearman correlation analysis, we observed a significant and negative correlation for weight and BMI with HDL-C and for weight and apo-AI levels only in the highest tertile of DHEA-S.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that, in our prepubertal population, the association of overweight with decreased HDL-C and apo-AI levels was present only in boys within the highest levels of DHEA-S, supporting the importance of hormonal influences on the association of metabolic alterations with overweight.
authors.affiliation: Lipid Unit, Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Avda. Reyes Católicos 2, 28040 Madrid, Spain. cgarces@fjd.es
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Garcés
authors.forename: Beatriz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cano
authors.forename: Miguel A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Lasunción
authors.forename: Alipio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mangas
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benavente
authors.forename: Iría
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: de Oya
authors.forename: Alexis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Studer
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Oya
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood*; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000502:physiology*; D011863:Radioimmunoassay; D012016:Reference Values; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013030:Spain
chemical_list: D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D007328:Insulin; D019314:Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate