title: Percentiles of serum uric acid and cardiometabolic abnormalities in obese Italian children and adolescents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the association of serum uric acid (SUA) with cardiometabolic abnormalities in Caucasian overweight/obese children (<10 years of age) versus adolescents (≥10 years of age) by drawing age and gender specific percentiles of uric acid.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional evaluation of 1364 Caucasian overweight/obese patients (age 4.1-17.9 years; 726 males, 53%; 560 children, 41%).
  
  
  RESULTS
  SUA levels were significantly lower in children than in adolescents (4.74 ± 1.05 vs. 5.52 ± 1.49 mg/dl, p < 0.001) and peaked in 12-14 years-old boys and 10-12 years-old girls. In children with levels of SUA in the highest quartile (N = 75, 13%), OR for high triglycerides was 4.145, 95% CI 1.506-11.407 (p = 0.009). In adolescents with SUA in the highest quartile (N = 274, 34%), ORs for insulin resistance was 2.399 (95%CI 1.4-4.113; p < 0.001); for impaired fasting glucose 2.184 (95% CI 0.877-5.441; p = 0.07); for impaired glucose tolerance 2.390 (95% CI 1.405-4.063; p = 0.001); and for high triglycerides 1.8, (95%CI 0.950-3.420; p = 0.05). Multivariable random-effect linear regression models demonstrated that waist circumference and age (p < 0.0001 for both) are the variables most significantly predicting SUA levels, followed by triglycerides (p = 0.005) and 2 h glucose (p = 0.03) while HOMA-IR and BMI z-score did not predict SUA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High uric acid is associated with metabolic abnormalities and particularly with waist circumference very early in childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.|Scientific Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Luciano
authors.affiliation: Scientific Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Blegina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Shashaj
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: MariaRita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Spreghini
authors.affiliation: Scientific Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Del Fattore
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Carmela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rustico
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wietrzykowska Sforza
authors.affiliation: Nutrition Unit, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuseppe Stefano
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Morino
authors.affiliation: Scientific Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dallapiccola
authors.affiliation: Scientific Directorate, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy. melania.manco@opbg.net.|Scientific Directorate, Research Unit for Multifactorial Disease, Bambino Gesù Children's Hospital, Rome, Italy. melania.manco@opbg.net.
authors.forename: Melania
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6581-975X
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Manco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014527:Uric Acid / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D014527:Uric Acid
keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Childhood obesity; Insulin resistance; Metabolic syndrome; Uric acid