Chronic Inflammatory Markers in Overweight and Obese Children: A Cross-sectional Analytical Study

• Published in: Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 542 - 547
• Main Authors: Gokulakrishnan, Rajasekar, Delhikumar, Chinnaiah G., Senthilkumar, Gandhipuram P., Sahoo, Jayaprakash, Kumar, Ramachandran R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 01.09.2024; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Medknow Publications & Media Pvt. Ltd; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Edition: 2
• Subjects: C-reactive protein; Children; co-morbidity; Comorbidity; Cytokines; Fatty liver; Health aspects; Hypertension; Hypothyroidism; Inflammation; inflammatory markers; Insulin resistance; Interleukins; Low density lipoproteins; Medical screening; Metabolic disorders; Obesity; Obesity in children; Original; Original Article; Type 2 diabetes; India; inflammatory markers; co-morbidity; Children; obesity
• ISSN: 2230-8210; 2230-9500
• DOI: 10.4103/ijem.ijem_353_23

Abstract Introduction: Childhood obesity is associated with chronic low-grade systemic inflammation, which results in obesity-related comorbidities. This study compared the inflammatory markers between obese and normal children and assessed obesity-related comorbidities. Methods: In this cross-sectional analytical study, 40 obese children between 5-18 years of age were recruited as cases, and an equal number of age and gender-matched normal children as the control. The inflammatory markers-high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), and adiponectin were compared between the groups. Hypothyroidism, dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, hypertension, and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) were screened among obese children. Results: We observed a male-female ratio of 1.5:1 in each group. The median hs-CRP between obese and normal children were 2.53 mg/L (0.94,6.85) and 0.77 mg/L (0.19,7.19), and the median IL-6 levels were 3.56 pg/ml (2.17,5.48) and 3.76 pg/ml (1.08,7.91) respectively. The median IL-10 levels between obese and control groups were 2.06 pg/ml (0.35,6.3) and 1.82 pg/ml (0.41,6.5), and the median adiponectin levels between the groups were 8.6 mcg/ml (6.65,16.04) and 9.79 mcg/ml (8.45,11.91) respectively. We didn't observe significant differences in the markers between the groups. Dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome were seen in 80%, 52.5%, and 45% of obese children, respectively. Other comorbidities-NAFLD, hypertension, and hypothyroidism, were observed in 27.5%, 25%, and 7.5% of obese children, respectively. IL-6 had a significant positive correlation with total cholesterol (r = 0.40), LDL levels (r = 0.50), and HDL (r = 0.32). Conclusion: There was no difference in inflammatory markers between obese and normal children. Dyslipidemia and insulin resistance were the most common comorbidities.