title: Ferritin level is associated with metabolic syndrome and elevated alanine aminotransferase in children and adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of the study was to investigate the association among elevated serum ferritin, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and 'elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels beyond healthy-range limits' in children and adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed data from 4855 subjects (2579 male) aged 10-19 who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) (2007-2012).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of MetS and 'elevated ALT' tended to increase with an increase in the serum ferritin quartile (p-value for trend: all <0.05). The odds ratios (ORs) for MetS in serum ferritin quartile-Q4 compared to ferritin quartile-Q1 was 1.59 (1.01, 2.55) in females after adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), and insulin resistance. The ORs for 'elevated ALT' in ferritin quartile-Q4 compared to ferritin quartile-Q1 were 4.45 (2.18, 9.10) in male and 3.10 (1.70, 5.66) in female subjects after adjusting for other covariates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The independent association between elevated serum ferritin and MetS (or 'elevated ALT') begins in children and adolescents.
authors.forename: Kyung Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Jin Soon
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Se Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Jun Ah
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dong Ho
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jung Sub
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007333:Insulin Resistance; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D005293:Ferritins; D000410:Alanine Transaminase