Metabolic and biological changes in children with obesity and diabetes

The World Health Organization has stated that obesity in childhood is one of themost serious public health challenges of the 21st century. Overweightness andobesity in early childhood lead to a higher risk of overweightness and obesity inadulthood, thus conferring an increased risk of chronic inflammatory conditions,including type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases, non-alcoholic fattyliver disease, and some cancers. Therefore, metabolome analysis, targeted atscreening and intervening in childhood obesity, is very important. Recent studieshave indicated that amino acid and lipid metabolism could influence metabolicpathways in children with obesity. For this review, we searched clinical dataaddressing metabolomic profiles and insulin resistance (IR) in children withobesity from inception to February 2021 in Medline, Web of Science, and Scopus.According to our search, branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), aromatic aminoacids, and acylcarnitines have reportedly been associated with IR as biomarkersfor diabetes in children. BCAAs, tyrosine, and phenylalanine could be predictorsof the future development of diabetes in nondiabetic subjects. In addition, it iswell known that insulin regulates BCAA metabolism, and BCAA is a biomarkerfor IR. To interpret the mechanism behind metabolic changes in obesity, it is veryimportant to understand the pathways and combinations related with amino acid,lipid and glucose metabolism. In this review, we summarize studies on metabolicchanges to understand metabolomics in children with obesity.

Disease Risks of Childhood Obesity in China

Objective To estimate the relative risks of dyslipidemia, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndromes among overweight and obese Chinese children compared with their normal weight counterparts. Methods Overweight and obesity were defined by age- and sex-specific BMI classification reference for Chinese children and adolescents. Pediatric metabolic syndrome （MetS） and each risk factor for MetS were defined using the criteria for US adolescents. Definition of hyper-TC, LDL, and dyslipidemia for adults was applied as well. General linear model factor analysis and chi-square test were used to compare the difference in metabolic indicators among normal weight, overweight, and obese groups. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to estimate the odds ratio of metabolic abnormalities between obesity, overweight, and normal weight children, after adjustment for living area, family economic level, age, sex, and daily exercise time and TV watching time, as well as different dietary indices in the model. Results Significant increases in blood lipids, glucose, and blood pressure were found among overweight and obese children as compared with their counterparts with normal weight. By applying WGOC-recommended BMI classification, the risks for hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL and dyslipidemia among overweight children were 1.9, 1.4, and 1.5 times, and was 3.3, 1.5, and 1.8 times among obese groups compared to their counterparts with normal weight after adjustment for age, sex, region, socioeconomic status, physical activity, and dietary intakes. The overweight and obese children （15-17.9 years） had a high-risk of developing hypertension, which was 2.3 and 2.9 times higher than their counterparts with normal weight. Above 90% obese adolescents had abdominal obesity, while less than 1% normal weight ones had abdominal obesity. No obese adolescents were free from any risk factors for MetS, while 36.9% of normal weight adolescents were from the risk factors. 83.3% obese boys and all obese girls had metabolic syndrome, while only 15.5% normal weight boys and 18.8% normal weight girls had metabolic syndrome. Four risk factors for metabolic syndrome were found in 8.3% obese boys while none in normal weight boys and girls. The prevalence of MetS among normal weight, overweight, and obesity groups was 1.5%, 18.3%, and 38.1% respectively. Conclusion The cardiovascular disease （CVD） risk factors are clustered in obese Chinese children. Our observations strongly suggest that efforts should be made to prevent the onset of overweight and its associated diseases during early childhood.

Changes of ghrelin following oral glucose tolerance test in obese children with insulin resistance

AIM： To characterize changes in ghrelin levels in response to oral glucose tolerance test （OGTT） and to correlate changes in ghrelin levels with changes in insulin and glucose following OGTT in Chinese obese children of Tanner Ⅰ and Ⅱ stage with insulin resistance. METHODS： 22 obese children with insulin resistance state were divided into four groups according to their Tanner stage and gender： boys of Tanner Ⅰ （fir- Ⅰ ）, boys of Tanner Ⅱ（BT-Ⅱ ）, girls of Tanner Ⅰ （GT- Ⅰ ）, girls of Tanner Ⅱ （GT-Ⅱ）. Ghrelin, insulin and glucose were measured at 0, 30, 60 and 120 rain following OGTT. The control children with normal BMI were divided into control boys of Tanner Ⅰ （CBT- Ⅰ, n = 6）, control boys of Tanner Ⅱ （CBT-Ⅱ, n = 5）, control girls of Tanner Ⅰ （CGT- Ⅰ, n = 6）, control girls of Tanner Ⅱ （CGT-Ⅱ, n = 5）. Fasting serum ghrelin levels were analyzed. RESULTS： Ghrelin levels were lower in obese groups. Ghrelin levels of control group decreased in Tanner Ⅱ stage （CGT- Ⅰ vs CGT-Ⅱ t = -4.703, P = 0.001; CBT- Ⅰ vs CBT- Ⅱ t = -4.794, P = 0.001）. Basal ghrelin levels in fir-Ⅱ decreased more significantly than that in BT- Ⅰ group （t = 2.547, P = 0.029）. Ghrelin levels expressed a downward trend after OGTT among obese children. The decrease in ghrelin levels at 60 min with respect to basal values was 56.9% in BT- Ⅰ. Ghrelin concentrations at 0 min correlated directly with glucose level at 0 min in fir- Ⅰ （r = 0.898, P = 0.015）. There wasn＇t a significant correlation of ghrelin changes with glucose changes and insulin changes during OGTT in obese children with insulin resistance. CONCLUSION： In conclusion, in obese children with insulin resistance, ghrelin levels decreased with advancing pubertal stage. Ghrelin secretion suppression following OGTT was influenced by gender and pubertal stage. Baseline ghrelin levels and ghrelin suppression after OGTT did not significantly correlate with the degree of insulin resistance and insulin sensitivity.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome in obese children

I read with great interest the article of Fu et al who investigated whether non-alcoholic fatty liver disease(NAFLD)is an early mediator for prediction of metabolic syndrome,and whether liver B-ultrasound could be used for its diagnosis,in a study involving 861 obese children(6-16 years old).In this study,it was reported that NAFLD is not only a liver disease,but also an early mediator that reflects metabolic disorder,and that liver B-ultrasound can be a useful tool for metabolic syndrome(MS)screening.The authors reported that NAFLD and MS were present in 68.18%and 25.67%of obese children,respectively.Moreover,they observed that the prevalence of MS in NAFLD children was 37.64%,which was much higher than that in the non-NAFLD group.Criteria analogous to those of the Adult Treatment PanelⅢdefinition for MS were used for children in this study.The reported prevalence data on MS in the young has varied markedly,in large part because of disagreement among the variously proposed definitions of MS.Therefore,in my opinion,a study aiming to assess the association between MS components and NAFLD in obese children has to take into account a simple,easy-to-apply clinical definition proposed by the international diabetes federation for MS.Interpretation of the results of the Fu et al study are limited byanother major caveat:that the diagnosis or exclusion of NAFLD was based on liver enzymes and ultrasound imaging,but was not confirmed by liver biopsy.Indeed,it is known that liver enzymes may be within the reference interval in up to 70%of patients with diagnosed NAFLD and that the full histopathological spectrum of NAFLD may be present in patients with normal liver enzymes,which therefore cannot be reliably used to exclude the presence of NAFLD.

Comparison of the Effects of Physiotherapy Group Exercise and Basketball on Quality of Life of Obese Children

Aim: To compare the effects of group exercises under physiotherapist control and basketball program on the quality of life of obese children. Methods: 45 obese children aged 10 years were randomly included to the physiotherapy (n=14), basketball (n:15), and control group (n:16). The children were assessed before and after 12-week study duration. The Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) was used to determine and compare their quality of life (QoL). Results: No difference was found when the subheadings of the PedsQL were compared among the groups (p>0.05). When the changes were investigated within the groups, only significant increase was determined in the physical and emotional subheadings of the physiotherapy group (pConclusion: Although no change was determined in the quality of life, physiotherapy group exercise was found to be more successful to affect physical and emotional status of obese children.