High molecular weight adiponectin as a biomarker of hypertension in children and adolescents with obesity.

Abstract

Lower HMW (high molecular weight) adiponectin levels are associated with obesity, insulin resistance, and metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents. However, data on HMW levels in pediatric population with hypertension are lacking. This study aimed to examine the association and predictive capacity of HMW levels, HMW/HOMA-IR, and HMW/APN ratio with hypertension in obese children and adolescents. The 299 pediatric subjects were grouped in obese hypertensive (OH), obese normotensive (ON), and normal weight normotensive (NN). Plasma concentrations of HMW were investigated by ELISA. ANOVA was used to compare study groups, and a binary logistic regression analysis was used to verify if HMW, HMW/HOMA-IR, HMW/APN, APN, APN/HOMA-IR, and HOMA-IR are associated to hypertension regardless obesity in children and adolescents. To compare the strength and performance of each biomarker to classify individuals with and without hypertension, the receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve, area under the curve (AUC), and Youden index (J) were evaluated. Both HMW plasma levels and the HMW/HOMA-IR ratio were significantly lower in the OH group when compared to the ON group (HMW: 2.00±1.33 μg/mL vs 2.48±1.48 μg/mL; HMW/HOMA-IR ratio: 0.87±0.95 vs 1.27±1.2; P<0.05) and NN weight groups (HMW: 2.00±1.33 μg/mL vs 4.02±1.99 μg/mL; HMW/HOMA-IR ratio: 0.87±0.95 vs 2.62±1.86; P<0.05). Hypertension was associated with lowest HMW (OR=4.50; 95% CI=1.41–15.84) and HMW/HOMA-IR (OR=12.13; 95% CI=2.51–92.93) regardless of obesity. However, HOMA-IR or the HMW/APN was not significant (P>0.05). In the ROC curve analyses, the HMW and HMW/HOM-IR were more sensitive to detect hypertension in children and adolescents with obesity. Conclusion: Low levels of HMW oligomer and HMW/HOM-IR are associated with hypertension in childhood obesity. Thus, these biomarkers could be clinically useful in identifying hypertension in childhood obesity.