Correlation between hormones, cytokines, MMP2 and α-fetoprotein among hyperlipidemic obese children

Childhood obesity and its complications have become a very serious public health concern and threat. Obesity confers increased risk for cardiovascular diseases as a result of accumulation of visceral fat, which alters metabolism and insulin sensitivity. The objective of this study is to identify, correlate and validate certain biomarkers for detecting obesity in Egyptian children. Thirty patients and twenty healthy volunteers as control were enrolled in this study. All subjects were prepubertal (7-12 years) and of both sex. Anthropometric measurements; body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumferences and abdominal skin fold thickness (ASFT) were taken into consideration. Leptin, matrix metalloproteinase -2 (MMP2), interlukin-10 (IL-10), alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) were evaluated. Lipid profile; cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TG) were also tested. The work was extended to measure liver function enzymes; aspartate and alanine aminotransferases (ASL&ALT). The results revealed significant elevation (p<0.05) of all the selected parameters in obese children as compared to healthy individuals, while HDL-C showed significant decrease. The pearson’s correlation test (2-tailed) revealed significant (p<0.01) positive correlation between BMI and the selected parameters. In conclusion, these biomarkers succeeded for detecting children who may be at risk of being overweight or obese. Strong association between obesity and the selected biomarkers were observed.