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Title: Mexican-American children have different elevation of metabolic biomarkers that is proportional to obesity status

Author
item MCFARLIN, BRIAN - University Of North Texas
item JOHNSTON, CRAIG - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item MORENO, JENNETTE - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)
item FOREYT, JOHN - Children'S Nutrition Research Center (CNRC)

Submitted to: Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/14/2013
Publication Date: 12/1/2013
Citation: McFarlin, B.K., Johnston, C.A., Moreno, J.P., Foreyt, J.P. 2013. Mexican-American children have different elevation of metabolic biomarkers that is proportional to obesity status. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 57(6):718-721.

Interpretive Summary: Obesity is related with the development of many chronic diseases, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease (CVD) and is a major concern within the Hispanic community. Not only is CVD the leading cause of death in the Hispanic population, but Hispanics also are more likely to die of CVD than any other ethnic groups. Early prevention is critical because risk factors of CVD are shown to manifest at a younger age in Hispanic children. The present study compared a panel of nontraditional metabolic risk factors among Mexican American children of differing body weights to examine the nature of the relation between obesity status in Mexican American children and the serum concentration of certain blood biomarkers due to linkages of disease in obese adults. This study showed that obese Mexican American children had elevated serum concentrations of several biomarkers that have been linked to chronic disease development in adults. Future reaseach should examine the mechanisms of how these differences affect disease risk in adulthood.

Technical Abstract: There is a health disparity for obesity among Mexican Americans compared with other racial/ethnic groups. In particular, Mexican American children who are obese are likely to become obese adults. The purpose of this study was to examine traditional and nontraditional risk factors in a subset of Mexican American children before their participation in a larger clinical weight loss study. Venous blood samples were collected from self-identified Mexican American children (12–14 years old) who were assigned to 1 of 3 weight groups based on their standardized body mass index; normal weight (N'='66), overweight (N'='23), or obese (N'='39). Serum was analyzed for interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-a, C-peptide, ghrelin, glucagon-like protein, gastric inhibitory polypeptide-1, glucagon, insulin, leptin, macrophage chemoattractant protein 1, and pancreatic polypeptide using a Luminex MagPix-based assay. Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides, and glucose were analyzed using enzymatic assays. Data were analyzed for significance using separate analysis of variance tests, with significance set at P'<'0.05. Relative to normal weight and overweight children, obese children had significantly elevated C-peptide (P'<'0.0001), insulin (P'<'0.0001), leptin (P'<'0.0001), macrophage chemoattractant protein 1 (P'='0.005), and tumor necrosis factor-a (P'='0.006). We observed that Mexican American children as a function of body weight had elevated serum concentrations of several biomarkers that have been linked to chronic disease development in adults. More research is needed to understand how these differences affect disease risk in adulthood.