title: The potential role of fatty liver in paediatric metabolic syndrome: a distinct phenotype with high metabolic risk?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of obesity and its metabolic consequences has dramatically increased in the last two decades urging physicians to find a reliable definition for early detection, treatment and possibly prevention of metabolic syndrome (MS). MS could be diagnosed in adult patients in the presence of a large waist circumference and ≥2 of the following features: high serum triglycerides, low serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, high blood pressure and high fasting glucose. The definition of MS in children is more problematic, and the potential role of its single components on metabolic risk remains largely undefined. Recent evidence strongly suggests not only a relationship between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and MS in obese children, adolescents and adults, but also the key role exerted by liver fat deposition in the pathogenesis of MS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We propose that NAFLD should be routinely checked in obese subjects because early lifestyle changes may be effective in reducing the overall risk of MS.
authors.affiliation: Metabolic and Autoimmune Liver Disease Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy. nobili66@yahoo.it
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nobili
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bedogni
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Berni Canani
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brambilla
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cianfarani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pietrobelli
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Agostoni
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000503:physiopathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008099:Liver / Q000503:physiopathology; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*