The association of circulating interleukin-18 with fasting insulin and weight loss in obese children

Obesity is an independent risk factor for developing cardiovascular disease and increases insulin resistance in children. Interleukin (IL)-18 is a novel pro-inflammatory cytokine with potential atherogenetic properties. This study ai- med to identify circulating levels of IL-18 in obese children and examine the effects of combined nutritional education-physical activity course on circulating IL-18. Plasma IL-18, body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose and insulin, homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA IR), lipid profile, uric acid, high- sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), and homocysteine were determined in 70 obese children aged 10-12 years before and after attending a 13-week weight reduction program, which included physical activities and nutritional education. Twenty-five age-matched non-obese children served as controls. At baseline, obese children had significantly higher levels of BMI, fasting insulin, HOMA IR, triglyceride (TG), uric acid, hs-CRP, and IL-18 but lower high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) than non-obese children. Plasma IL-18 levels in obese children decreased significantly after the weight reduction program. At baseline, plasma IL-18 levels in obese children positively correlated with BMI, HOMA IR, insulin and TG but negatively correlated with HDL-C. There was a significant relationship between plasma IL-18 and BMI changes. Moreover, fasting insulin was responsible for IL-18 variability in obese children. These findings suggest that elevated plasma IL-18 levels in obese children are partly associated with parameters of obesity and insulin resistance, and are significantly affected by modest weight loss.

Estimates of energy expenditure using the RT3 accelerometer in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

This study aimed to characterize energy expenditure patterns using the triaxial accelerometer and to identify the association of energy expenditure with clinical parameters in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Estimates of energy expenditures represented by total activity calorie (TA), physical activity calorie (PA), total activity calorie per body weight (TABW), and physical activity calorie per body weight (PABW) of 49 female SLE patients were assessed using the RT3 triaxial accelerometer (StayHealthy, Monrovia, CA) in a sevenday period. SLE patients in the highest body mass index (BMI) tertile showed significantly lower values of TABW compared to those in the lowest tertile, while SLE patients in the lowest TABW tertile showed significantly higher body weight, waist circumference, BMI, SLE disease activity index (SLEDAI), dosage of prednisone, and blood pressure. There was a high prevalence of metabolic syndrome and SLE patients with metabolic syndrome showed significantly lower TABW. In addition, both TABW and PABW significantly but negatively correlated with SLEDAI. In conclusion, the RT3 accelerometer is suitable for evaluating total and physical activity-related energy expenditure in patients with SLE. TABW measured by the triaxial accelerometer is inversely related with body weight status and disease activity in SLE patients. This suggests that estimates of energy expenditure by the tri-axial accelerometer may be applied in the management of SLE.