Abdominal fat partitioning and high-molecular-weight adiponectin in short children born small for gestational age.
OBJECTIVE
Children born small for gestational age (SGA) tend to become hyperinsulinemic and viscerally adipose and to have low levels of circulating high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin upon completion of catch-up growth. We studied whether the same applies to SGA children, who failed to develop spontaneous catch-up growth.


METHODS
The study was conducted at a university hospital.


METHODS
Patients included 24 short SGA children (11 girls, 13 boys; mean age 7.5 yr, height -3.0 SD) as compared with appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) children (n = 32) and catch-up SGA children (n = 32) of similar height, weight, and body mass index.


RESULTS
We measured fasting serum glucose, insulin, IGF-I, and HMW adiponectin; body composition by absorptiometry; and abdominal fat partitioning by magnetic resonance imaging.


CONCLUSIONS
Short SGA children were highly sensitive to insulin (P < 0.001 vs. AGA; P < 0.0001 vs. catch-up SGA), had low IGF-I levels, and had high-normal levels of HMW adiponectin (mean 14.0 vs. 7.4 mg/liter in catch-up SGA; P < 0.001). In the abdominal region, short SGA children had a normal amount of visceral fat (mean 17 vs. 18 cm(2) in AGA), but their sc fat was strikingly reduced (mean 18 vs. 29 cm(2) in AGA; P < 0.0001); this combination resulted in a markedly elevated ratio of visceral over sc fat (P < 0.0001 vs. AGA). The effects of GH therapy on these features of short SGA children remain to be studied.
Ibáñez
Lourdes
L
Endocrinology Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Passeig de Sant Joan de Déu, 2, 08950 Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain. libanez@hsjdbcn.org
López-Bermejo
Abel
A
Díaz
Marta
M
Marcos
Maria Victoria
MV
Casano
Paula
P
de Zegher
Francis
F
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000378:metabolism*; D052242:Adiponectin / Q000097:blood; D001823:Body Composition; D001827:Body Height; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000378:metabolism*; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007236:Infant, Small for Gestational Age; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008970:Molecular Weight
C499918:ADIPOQ protein, human; D052242:Adiponectin; D019382:Human Growth Hormone; D007334:Insulin-Like Growth Factor I