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Serum visfatin and vaspin levels in prepubertal children: effect of obesity and weight loss after behavior modifications on their secretion and relationship with glucose metabolism

Abstract

Objective:

To investigate the impact of obesity, weight loss and oral glucose ingestion on serum visfatin and vaspin levels in prepubertal children.

Subjects and methods:

A total of 100 prepubertal obese Caucasian children (OB) and 42 controls (C) were studied. The OB group was studied at baseline and after moderate (n=46) and extensive (n=14) body mass index (BMI) reduction by conservative treatment, undergoing body composition studies (dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry) and oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs). Serum visfatin and vaspin levels were studied throughout the OGTT, as were their relationships with insulin, leptin, leptin soluble receptor (sOB-R), adiponectin (total and high molecular weight), resistin, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-α levels at every time point.

Results:

OB had higher visfatin (P<0.001), but similar vaspin than C. BMI reduction decreased visfatin levels (P<0.001), with BMI, waist circumference and the surrogate markers of body fat (leptin and sOB-R) showing significant correlations (P<0.05) with this peptide, but not with vaspin. Visfatin and vaspin decreased during the OGTT (P<0.001). Weight reduction did not alter visfatin dynamics in the OGTT, but decreased the area under the curve (AUC) for vaspin (P<0.001), with a correlation between the AUCs for vaspin and insulin after weight loss (P<0.05). Visfatin levels were positively correlated with resistin and IL-6, after controlling for BMI and HOMA (homeostatic model assessment) index at every time point in the study.

Conclusion:

Serum visfatin, but not vaspin, levels are influenced by body fat content in obese children, whereas both adipokines are modulated by glucose intake in a BMI-dependent manner.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr Julie A Chowen for the critical review of the manuscript. GAMM was supported by the Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria (FIS CM05/00100). This work was supported by CIBER Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y Nutrición (CIBERobn), Instituto de Salud Carlos III; Proyecto de Fondo de Investigación Sanitaria FIS (PI 10-747); the Fundación Endocrinología y Nutrición; Mutua Madrileña (AP2561/2008); grants from the German Research Council (DFG) KFO 152 ‘Atherobesity’ KO3512/1-1 (to AK, JK and WK), the German Diabetes Association (to AK), the Else Kröner-Fresenius Foundation (to AK) and the LARGE consortium funded by the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the scope of the competence networks ‘Obesity’ and ‘diabetes’.

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Correspondence to J Argente.

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Martos-Moreno, G., Kratzsch, J., Körner, A. et al. Serum visfatin and vaspin levels in prepubertal children: effect of obesity and weight loss after behavior modifications on their secretion and relationship with glucose metabolism. Int J Obes 35, 1355–1362 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2010.280

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