High Risk Children From a Lower Socioeconomic School
Provide Evidence That a Hormone Derived From Fat Cells May Indicate Who Is
Susceptible to Type 2 Diabetes
New Orleans, LA -- Lower socioeconomic children are at high risk of
developing obesity and type 2 diabetes. The mechanism that contribute to
worsening insulin resistance in the growing child are unknown, but mounting
evidence suggests a role for adipose derived cytokines and tumor necrosis
factor-a (TNF-a), interlukin-6 (IL-6), leptin and resistin. Also of interest
has been the recently discovered “adiponectin,” a peptide hormone derived
from adipose (i.e., “fat”) tissue, which is one of several new hormones
involved in obesity and is related to susceptibility to non-insulin
dependent (type 2) diabetes).
A new study offers the first findings regarding adiponectin levels in
children and their correlations to measures such as body composition and
fitness and other obesity related risk factors. The authors of the study,
"Relationships Among Adiponectin and Other Adipose Cytokines, Body
Composition, and Fasting Insulin In Lower Socioeconomic Middle School
Children," are Dan Nemet, MD, Dan M. Cooper, MD and Ping Wang, from the
Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of California, Irvine,
CA, and Tohru Funahashi, Yuji Matsuzawa, and Sachiyo Tanaka, all from the
Department of Internal Medicine and Molecular Science, Osaka, University,
Osaka, Japan. They will report their findings in detail during the American
Physiological Society’s (APS) annual meeting, part of the "Experimental
Biology 2002” conference. More than l2,000 attendees will
attend the conference which is being held April 20-24, 2002 at the Ernest N.
Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, LA.
Methodology
The mechanisms that might contribute to worsening insulin resistance in
the growing child are not known, but mounting evidence suggests a role for
adipose derived cytokines like tumor necrosis factor-a (TNF-a),
interleukin-6 (IL-6), and the recently discovered adiponectin. The study
called for the testing of the hypotheses that these mediators are related to
body composition and might serve as early markers for alterations in glucose
regulation.
The researchers required fasting and early morning blood measurements of
the previously named cytokines in 31 healthy, predominately lower
socioeconomic, Hispanic and Asian-American children (17 boys, 14 girls, mean
age 13.0±0.1 years of age). Values were correlated with fasting insulin and
with the following measures of body composition: "BMI" as age determined
percentile; "DEXA" as percent body fat, and skinfolds as percent body fat.
Results
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Adiponectin was inversely correlated with each estimate of
fat.
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In contrast, TNF-a was positively correlated with BMI and
Skinfolds.
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IL-6 was positively correlated with BMI and DEXA.
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Adiponectin was also inversely correlated with fasting
insulin but no correlations were found for insulin and either TNF-a or
IL-6.
Conclusion
Adipose associated cytokines are correlated with fat mass in children.
This novel data on adiponectin, from a human study, suggests that the
development of type 2 diabetes in children may involve dysregulation of
adiponectin secretion.
- end -
The American Physiological Society (APS) is one of the
world’s most prestigious organizations for physiological scientists. These
researchers specialize in understanding the processes and functions
underlying human health and disease. Founded in 1887 the Bethesda, MD-based
Society has more than 10,000 members and publishes 3,800 articles in its 14
peer-reviewed journals each year.
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Editor’s Note: For further information or to schedule an interview, please contact Donna Krupa at 703.967.2751 (cell),
703.527.7357 (office) or at
djkrupa1@aol.com.
