Impact of overweight and obesity in carotid intima-media thickness of portuguese adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
To measure carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in obese, overweight and normal-weight Portuguese adolescents, to evaluate the association between body weight early signs of atherosclerosis.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study, enrolling 150 adolescents (50 normal weight, 50 overweight and 50 obese) with mean age of 12.9 years. All underwent clinical, analytical and carotid common artery ultrasonographic evaluation.


RESULTS
After adjusting for systolic blood pressure and plasma High-density lipoprotein, Low-density lipoprotein and Triglycerides levels, higher mean cIMT values were observed in both overweight and obese patients, when compared to normal-weight group. Moreover, adolescents with metabolic syndrome (MS) had greater cIMT [normal-weight: cIMT mean 0.418 mm (95% confidence intervals (95% CI) 0.399-0.437); overweight: 0.461 mm (95% CI: 0.444-0.477); obese: 0.472 mm (95% CI: 0.455-0.488); MS: 0.482 mm (95% CI: 0.444-0.520) p = 0.001]. When normal-weight and overweight adolescents were exclusively compared, differences in cIMT remained significant (p < 0.001). cIMT was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.439, p < 0.001), waist circumference (r = 0.301, p = 0.018) and diastolic blood pressure (r = 0.266, p = 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
We have shown that cIMT is positively associated with BMI increase in adolescents, even in moderate overweight ranges, independent of age, gender, systolic blood pressure and plasma lipid concentrations.
Department of Pediatrics, Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho, EPE, Portugal. ana.luisa20@gmail.com
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Leite
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Santos
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Monteiro
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Gomes
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Veloso
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Costa
D000293:Adolescent; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D059168:Carotid Intima-Media Thickness; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications; D050177:Overweight / Q000150:complications*; D011174:Portugal; D012307:Risk Factors