title: Obesity, insulin resistance, and the risk of an elevated alanine aminotransferase activity in the Korean adolescent population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is unclear to what extent insulin resistance (IR) modulates the association linking obesity to alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activity elevation.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured the homeostatic model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR) in 1591 participants aged 12-18 years from the 2008 to 2009 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overweight adolescents had an odds ratio of 7.23 [95% confidence interval (95% CI), 4.33-12.10] for an elevated ALT activity compared with normal-weight adolescents, and the corresponding risk was 23.62 (95% CI, 12.98-42.98) in obese adolescents. Adjustments for other participant factors did not substantially affect the results. The addition of the HOMA-IR data decreased the estimate for overweight adolescents by 27% and for obese adolescents, the decrease was 47%. Both obesity and IR markers remained independent predictors of outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The greater the obesity level, the more that IR contributes to the association between obesity and an elevated ALT activity.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.
authors: Seung Ha
authors: SH
authors: Park
authors: Nae Yun
authors: NY
authors: Heo
authors: Jong Ha
authors: JH
authors: Park
authors: Tae Oh
authors: TO
authors: Kim
authors: Sung Yeun
authors: SY
authors: Yang
authors: Young Soo
authors: YS
authors: Moon
authors: Chang Hoon
authors: CH
authors: Kim
authors: Ki Tae
authors: KT
authors: Suk
authors: Dong Joon
authors: DJ
authors: Kim
authors: Heon Young
authors: HY
authors: Lee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005234:Fatty Liver / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D000410:Alanine Transaminase