Increased circulating High-Sensitivity Troponin T concentrations in children and adolescents with obesity and the metabolic syndrome: a marker for early cardiac damage?

Abstract

Objective: Childhood obesity is associated with an increased risk for atherosclerosis mediated by the pathogenetic mechanisms that lead to the development of the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS). High-Sensitivity Troponin T (hs-TnT) is a specific marker of ischemic myocardial damage, whereas a minimal elevation of this biomarker has been found in adults with a high-risk for cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized that hs-TnT might be altered in obese children with and/or without the Mets.

Materials and methods: Fifty-seven (34 males) obese and 25 non-obese (6 males) children were assessed at the Childhood Obesity Clinic of our department. Obesity was defined using the IOTF criteria. Metabolic syndrome was defined with the IDF criteria. Hs-TnT was measured using an electrochemiluminescence-based assay.

Results: The entire group of obese children had significantly higher hs-TnT concentrations [4.1 ± 3.4 ng/L] (p=0.029) than the non-obese ones [3.0 ± 0.2 ng/L), however, in both groups the levels of the cardiac biomarker were within the normal range. Comparison of the obese children with or without the MetS and the non-obese, revealed that those with the MetS had significantly higher hs-TnT (6.7±7.1 ng/L) than the obese without MetS (3.7 ± 2.1 ng/L) [p=0.044], and the non-obese [p=0.014]. Hs-TnT did not differ between the obese without MetS and the non-obese.

Conclusions: Circulating concentrations of hs-TnT in obese children with the MetS are higher than those of the obese without the MetS and the non-obese, suggesting that it is obesity-related metabolic changes rather than obesity per se linked to increased hs-TnT in children.