title: Does systemic low-grade inflammation associate with fat accumulation and distribution? A 7-year follow-up study with peripubertal girls.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Knowledge about the interrelationship between adiposity and systemic low-grade inflammation during pubertal growth is important in detecting early signs of obesity-related metabolic disorders.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the study was to evaluate the developmental trajectories of fat mass (FM) and high sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels and factors that could explain the relationship between FM and hsCRP in girls from prepuberty to early adulthood.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a 7.5-year longitudinal study.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was conducted at the University of Jyväskylä Sports and Health Science laboratory.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred ninety-six healthy Finnish girls aged 11.2 ± 0.8 years participated in the study.
  
  
  METHODS
  Body composition was assessed by a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and serum concentrations of hsCRP, adipokines, and sex hormones by ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both FM and hsCRP increased with age and had similar trajectories but different inter- and intravariance patterns. A joint analysis of fat distribution and hsCRP indicated that the linkage probabilities across different trajectory subgroups between regional FM and the corresponding hsCRP levels varied from 16% to 53%. In a longitudinal regression model, the common predictor for both FM and hsCRP was T (β = .065, P < 0.01, and β = -.213, P < 0.05, respectively) before menarche. Other factors predicting FM before menarche were SHBG (β = -.196, P < 0.01) and leptin (β = .381, P < .01); and after menarche hsCRP (β = .048, P < 0.01), T (β = .089, P < .01), leptin (β = .340, P < .01), and adiponectin (β = -.086, P < .05). Of the factors assessed, only FM was associated with hsCRP both before and after menarche (β =1.058, P < .01 and β =1.121, P < .01, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The differences in regional body fat depots and hsCRP levels in adulthood are largely established early in childhood. However, the intra- and interindividual variances differed between FM and hsCRP. FM explained the variance of hsCRP during pubertal growth, but the reverse was not true, which suggests that FM contributes to low-grade inflammation and not vice versa.
authors.affiliation: School of Kinesiology (X.W., R.W., Y.L., P.C., S.C.), Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai 200438, China; Department of Health Sciences (X.W., S.P., P.W., S.M.C., X.T., Y.L., S.C.), University of Jyväskylä, FIN-40014 Jyväskylä, Finland; National Center for Public Health Surveillance and Information Services (G.F.), Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing 102206, China; Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care (J.G.E.), Helsinki University, and Unit of General Practice (J.G.E.), Helsinki University Central Hospital, FIN-00290 Helsinki, Finland; Folkhälsan Research Centre (J.G.E.), FIN-00250 Helsinki, Finland; Department of Medical Rehabilitation (P.W., S.M.C., M.A.), Oulu University Hospital, FIN-90221, Oulu, Finland; and Institute of Health Sciences, University of Oulu, FIN-90220 Oulu, Finland.
authors.forename: Xinfei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wen
authors.forename: Satu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pekkala
authors.forename: Renwei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Petri
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wiklund
authors.forename: Guoshaung
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Shu Mei
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Xiao
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Peijie
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Johan G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Eriksson
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alen
authors.forename: Sulin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cheng
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D000293:Adolescent; D050218:Body Fat Distribution; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000378:metabolism*; D050356:Lipid Metabolism; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011627:Puberty / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein