title: Relationship between visceral obesity and plasma fibrinogen in obese children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents has increased significantly worldwide with an alarming rise of its co-morbidities. The excess of visceral adipose tissue is associated with hypertension, prothrombotic and pro-inflammatory states. Our aim was to find a possible association between visceral obesity and plasma fibrinogen, as one of the cardiovascular risk factors, in obese children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-three obese children and 40 non-obese controls were studied regarding their history, complete physical examination, anthropometric assessment, body composition analysis, ultrasonographic measurement of visceral adipose tissue and subcutaneous fat as well as laboratory measurement of plasma fibrinogen.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our study revealed significant higher levels of fibrinogen in obese children than controls (14.5+5.1 and 2.9+0.52 mg/mL, respectively) with p-value <0.01. Moreover, the obese group had statistically significant difference in visceral fat (5.96+0.77 cm) and subcutaneous fat (2.66+0.70 cm) than controls (2.45+0.65 and 0.70+0.18 mg/mL, respectively) with p-value <0.01. In addition, fibrinogen had significant positive correlation with body mass index (r=0.327), waist/hip ratio (r=0.394), fat percentage (r=0.301), visceral adipose tissue (r=0.323) and subcutaneous fat (r=0.301).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was highly significant increase in the fibrinogen level, visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat in the obese group with insignificant sex differences. Fibrinogen had a significant positive correlation with the different adiposity markers, blood pressure, visceral and subcutaneous fat. Visceral adipose tissue is a stronger predictor for cardiovascular risk compared to subcutaneous fat.
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hafez
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: El-Masry
authors.forename: Noha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Musa
authors.forename: Marwa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fathy
authors.forename: Mona
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Nayera
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.forename: Mohamed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Husseiny
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tareef
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography / Q000379:methods; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D001786:Blood Glucose; D005340:Fibrinogen