Abstract
Aim: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the accumulation of excess fat in the liver in the absence of alcohol consumption, which is commonly associated with obesity and increased risk of atherosclerosis as well as insulin resistance. Adropin is a recently identified protein encoded by the gene related with energy homeostasis, which is expressed in the liver and the brain and has a role in preventing insulin resistance and obesity. The aim of this study was to investigate the serum adropin and leptin levels in obese adolescents and compare the patients with, and without, NAFLD and with healthy controls.
Methods: Sixty-four obese adolescents (30 with NAFLD, 34 without NAFLD) and 36 healthy controls were enrolled in the study. Serum adropin and leptin levels were evaluated by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results: Serum adropin levels were significantly lower in obese children than healthy controls (3.2±1.0 and 9.2±1.2 ng/mL, respectively, p=0.001). Serum leptin levels were significantly higher in patients than in controls (12.4±1.1 and 4.1±3.1 pg/mL, respectively; p=0.000). Serum adropin levels of patients with NAFLD were significantly lower than in patients without NAFLD (2.9±0.5 and 3.5±1.2 ng/mL, respectively; p=0.023) and healthy controls (p=0.000). Logistic regression analysis showed that a decrease in adropin levels was the only independent factor for fatty liver disease in obese adolescents (odds ratio: 3.07, 95% confidence interval 1.14–8.2, p=0.026). Leptin, relative weight and HOMA-IR of the patients were not independent risk factors for NAFLD.
Conclusions: In this study, serum adropin levels were significantly lower in obese adolescents with fatty liver disease compared to patients without fatty liver disease and healthy controls. Lower adropin level was an independent risk factor for NAFLD in obese adolescents in logistic regression analysis. Assessment of serum adropin concentrations may provide a reliable indicator of fatty liver disease in obese adolescents.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by a grant (KB.SAG.047) from Dokuz Eylul University Funding Committee for Scientific Research, Izmir, Turkey. We acknowledge the support of the ARLAB (Research Laboratory) of Dokuz Eylül University Medical School, Izmir, Turkey.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors have no relevant conflict of interest to disclose.
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©2014 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Original articles
- Assessment of hearing in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus
- Insulin resistance and lipid profiles in HIV-infected Thai children receiving lopinavir/ritonavir-based highly active antiretroviral therapy
- Increased hunger and speed of eating in obese children and adolescents
- Glucagon and insulin cord blood levels in very preterm, late preterm and full-term infants
- Thyroid function in late preterm infants in relation to mode of delivery and respiratory support
- Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its related factors in children and adolescents living in North Khorasan, Iran
- Asymmetric dimethyl L-arginine, nitric oxide and cardiovascular disease in adolescent type 1 diabetics
- A combined nutritional-behavioral-physical activity intervention for the treatment of childhood obesity – a 7-year summary
- The effect of earlier puberty on cardiometabolic risk factors in Afro-Caribbean children
- Prevalence of risk of deficiency and inadequacy of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in US children: NHANES 2003–2006
- Serum uric acid: relationships with biomarkers in adolescents and changes over 1 year
- Psychological impact on parents of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia: a study from Sri Lanka
- Investigation of adropin and leptin levels in pediatric obesity-related nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
- Diseases accompanying congenital hypothyroidism
- Molecular diagnosis of a Chinese pedigree with α-mannosidosis and identification of a novel missense mutation
- Are the characteristics of thyroid cancer different in young patients?
- Unsaturated fatty acids and insulin resistance in childhood obesity
- Effect of genetic subtypes and growth hormone treatment on bone mineral density in Prader-Willi syndrome
- KCNJ11 gene mutation analysis on nine Chinese patients with type 1B diabetes diagnosed before 3 years of age
- Prevalence and risk factors of metabolic syndrome in school adolescents of northeast China
- Patient reports
- A novel activating ABCC8 mutation underlying neonatal diabetes mellitus in an infant presenting with cerebral sinovenous thrombosis
- Endocrinological anomalies in a patient with 12q14 microdeletion syndrome. Completing phenotype of this exceptional short stature condition
- Acute mental status change as the presenting feature of adrenal insufficiency in a patient with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type II and stroke
- Effect of ethosuximide on cortisol metabolism in the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Absence of WNT4 gene mutation in a patient with MURCS association
- Identification of a novel insulin receptor gene heterozygous mutation in a patient with type A insulin resistance syndrome
- Adrenal insufficiency in association with congenital nephrotic syndrome: a case report
- Diabetic lipemia presenting as eruptive xanthomas in a child with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type IIIa
- A case report of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus with idiopathic Fanconi syndrome in a child who presented with vitamin D resistant rickets
- Letter to the Editor
- Hyperbilirubinemia in neonates of diabetic mothers: an indirect biomarker of organ damage?
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Original articles
- Assessment of hearing in children with type 1 diabetes mellitus
- Insulin resistance and lipid profiles in HIV-infected Thai children receiving lopinavir/ritonavir-based highly active antiretroviral therapy
- Increased hunger and speed of eating in obese children and adolescents
- Glucagon and insulin cord blood levels in very preterm, late preterm and full-term infants
- Thyroid function in late preterm infants in relation to mode of delivery and respiratory support
- Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency and its related factors in children and adolescents living in North Khorasan, Iran
- Asymmetric dimethyl L-arginine, nitric oxide and cardiovascular disease in adolescent type 1 diabetics
- A combined nutritional-behavioral-physical activity intervention for the treatment of childhood obesity – a 7-year summary
- The effect of earlier puberty on cardiometabolic risk factors in Afro-Caribbean children
- Prevalence of risk of deficiency and inadequacy of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in US children: NHANES 2003–2006
- Serum uric acid: relationships with biomarkers in adolescents and changes over 1 year
- Psychological impact on parents of children with congenital adrenal hyperplasia: a study from Sri Lanka
- Investigation of adropin and leptin levels in pediatric obesity-related nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
- Diseases accompanying congenital hypothyroidism
- Molecular diagnosis of a Chinese pedigree with α-mannosidosis and identification of a novel missense mutation
- Are the characteristics of thyroid cancer different in young patients?
- Unsaturated fatty acids and insulin resistance in childhood obesity
- Effect of genetic subtypes and growth hormone treatment on bone mineral density in Prader-Willi syndrome
- KCNJ11 gene mutation analysis on nine Chinese patients with type 1B diabetes diagnosed before 3 years of age
- Prevalence and risk factors of metabolic syndrome in school adolescents of northeast China
- Patient reports
- A novel activating ABCC8 mutation underlying neonatal diabetes mellitus in an infant presenting with cerebral sinovenous thrombosis
- Endocrinological anomalies in a patient with 12q14 microdeletion syndrome. Completing phenotype of this exceptional short stature condition
- Acute mental status change as the presenting feature of adrenal insufficiency in a patient with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type II and stroke
- Effect of ethosuximide on cortisol metabolism in the treatment of congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Absence of WNT4 gene mutation in a patient with MURCS association
- Identification of a novel insulin receptor gene heterozygous mutation in a patient with type A insulin resistance syndrome
- Adrenal insufficiency in association with congenital nephrotic syndrome: a case report
- Diabetic lipemia presenting as eruptive xanthomas in a child with autoimmune polyglandular syndrome type IIIa
- A case report of nephrogenic diabetes insipidus with idiopathic Fanconi syndrome in a child who presented with vitamin D resistant rickets
- Letter to the Editor
- Hyperbilirubinemia in neonates of diabetic mothers: an indirect biomarker of organ damage?