Abstract
Background:
The diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is usually based on liver ultrasonography and serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels. However, the serum ALT level is not sensitive for detecting NAFLD. If more serum markers are available, serum analysis may play a more important role in the diagnosis of NAFLD.
Methods:
Here, we have investigated whether vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cad) and thrombomodulin (TM) are markers of NAFLD in children. After an examination of liver ultrasonography, 90 children were divided into a lean control group (n=32), an overweight/obese NAFLD group (group-NAFLD, n=34) and an overweight/obese non-NAFLD group (group-SOO, n=24).
Results:
Two overweight/obese groups had similar obesity. However, serum VE-cad and TM levels were increased in group-NAFLD but not group-SOO. When data from all children were pooled, serum VE-cad and TM levels were positively correlated to body-mass index (BMI) and serum ALT levels.
Conclusions:
In conclusion, VE-cad and TM are markers of pediatric NAFLD.
Acknowledgments
We thank Yijie Duan (The Disease Control Center of Da-Gang, Tianjin, China) and Rui Cui (Nankai Hospital, Tianjin, China) for technical support.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: We thank Tianjin Medical University and Tianjin Municipal Government for financial supports.
Employment or leadership: None declared.
Honorarium: None declared.
Competing interests: The funding organization(s) played no role in the study design; in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; in the writing of the report; or in the decision to submit the report for publication.
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©2016 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents
- Original Articles
- Serum vascular endothelial cadherin and thrombomodulin are markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children
- Ferritin level is associated with metabolic syndrome and elevated alanine aminotransferase in children and adolescents
- Dietary fructose intake in obese children and adolescents: relation to procollagen type III N-terminal peptide (P3NP) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Central diabetes insipidus: clinical profile that suggests organicity in Peruvian children: Lima – Peru 2001–2013
- Salivary flow rate, buffer capacity, and urea concentration in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus
- Cortisol response to adrenocorticotropin testing in non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCCAH)
- Efficacy of micellized vs. fat-soluble vitamin D3 supplementation in healthy school children from Northern India
- Growth curves for congenital adrenal hyperplasia from a national retrospective cohort
- The effects of type 1 diabetes mellitus on cardiac functions in children: evaluation by conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography
- The association between single nucleotide polymorphisms of the Apelin gene and diabetes mellitus in a Chinese population
- Case Reports
- Successful transition to sulfonylurea therapy in two Iraqi siblings with neonatal diabetes mellitus and iDEND syndrome due to ABCC8 mutation
- A case of 46,XX dysgenesis and marked tall stature; the need for caution in interpreting array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)
- Successful treatment of a child with a prolactin secreting macroadenoma with temozolomide
- Acknowledgment
- Acknowledgment
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Editorial
- Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents
- Original Articles
- Serum vascular endothelial cadherin and thrombomodulin are markers of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in children
- Ferritin level is associated with metabolic syndrome and elevated alanine aminotransferase in children and adolescents
- Dietary fructose intake in obese children and adolescents: relation to procollagen type III N-terminal peptide (P3NP) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
- Central diabetes insipidus: clinical profile that suggests organicity in Peruvian children: Lima – Peru 2001–2013
- Salivary flow rate, buffer capacity, and urea concentration in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus
- Cortisol response to adrenocorticotropin testing in non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCCAH)
- Efficacy of micellized vs. fat-soluble vitamin D3 supplementation in healthy school children from Northern India
- Growth curves for congenital adrenal hyperplasia from a national retrospective cohort
- The effects of type 1 diabetes mellitus on cardiac functions in children: evaluation by conventional and tissue Doppler echocardiography
- The association between single nucleotide polymorphisms of the Apelin gene and diabetes mellitus in a Chinese population
- Case Reports
- Successful transition to sulfonylurea therapy in two Iraqi siblings with neonatal diabetes mellitus and iDEND syndrome due to ABCC8 mutation
- A case of 46,XX dysgenesis and marked tall stature; the need for caution in interpreting array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH)
- Successful treatment of a child with a prolactin secreting macroadenoma with temozolomide
- Acknowledgment
- Acknowledgment