title: Elevated plasma levels of interleukin-12p40 and interleukin-16 in overweight adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Obesity during adolescence is an increasing problem for both the individual and health care systems alike. In Western world countries, childhood adiposity has reached epidemic proportions. It is known that elevated levels of proinflammatory cytokines can be found in the plasma of obese patients. In this study, we sought to determine the relation between IL-12p40, IL-12p70, and Interleukin-16 (IL-16) in overweight adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy-nine male Caucasian adolescents aged 13-17 years were included in this study. Thirty-seven of them had a body mass index (BMI) above the 90th age-specific percentile. Il-12p40, IL-12p70, and IL-16 were measured from plasma using Luminex multiplex technology.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Both IL-12p40 and IL-16 concentrations were significantly increased in overweight subjects compared to normal weight controls (IL-12p40: 1086.6 pg/mL ± 31.7 pg/mL SEM versus 1228.6 pg/mL ± 43.5 pg/mL SEM; IL-16 494.0 pg/mL ± 29.4 pg/mL SEM versus 686.6 pg/mL ± 52.5 pg/mL SEM, P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, resp.). No differences were found for IL-12p70.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on these results, we believe that the increased levels of IL-12p40 and IL-16 are associated with an ongoing inflammatory response in obese individuals and could lead to the development of disease conditions related to obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Clinic of Internal Medicine II, Paracelsus Medical University of Salzburg, Müllner Hauptstraße 48, 5020 Salzburg, Austria.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lichtenauer
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Clinic of Internal Medicine I, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07747 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Franz
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Clinic of Internal Medicine I, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07747 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fritzenwanger
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Clinic of Internal Medicine I, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07747 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Hans-Reiner
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Figulla
authors.affiliation: Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Pettenkoferstrasse 8a, 80336 Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: Norbert
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gerdes
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Clinic of Internal Medicine I, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Erlanger Allee 101, 07747 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jung
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40 / Q000097:blood*; D019410:Interleukin-16 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D050177:Overweight / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D053762:Interleukin-12 Subunit p40; D019410:Interleukin-16; D018664:Interleukin-12