Ethnic differences in adipocytokines in severly obese children and adolescents in Singapore

Abstract

This study investigated ethnic variation in adiponectin and adipsin,their variation in obesity complications and the effect of two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the adiponectin gene in severely obese children and adolescents in Singapore. 234 severely obese children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years were enrolled. Total adiponectin, high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin and adipsin were measured by ELISA. In addition, the SNPs -11377C>G and +45T>G were genotyped by real-time PCR. Our study showed that while obese Chinese children had lower percentage body fat mass and Malays had higher cholesterol and LDL-C levels, there was no ethnic variation in serum adipocytokines. Of 147 children, 58% had metabolic syndrome with lower levels of adiponectin.The percentage of children with elevated serum liver enzyme concentrations was 25 % without any correlation with adiponectin.Adipsin had correlations with triglycerides and LDL-C. Results of our genetic assays showed that the C allele of SNP -11377 C>G had higher levels of HMW-to-total adiponectin ratio.In conclusion there was no ethnic variation in adiponectin and adipsin in severely obese children. Adiponectin correlated with obesity complications and may be useful biomarker in the metabolic syndrome. The high percentage of metabolic syndrome and liver dysfunction in severely obese children highlights the need for early interventional.