Background Obesity is an important cause of morbidity, and it has an increasing frequency in childhood. Studies have reported that 33% of adults and 20-27% of children and adolescents are obese. Recently, it has been shown that the prevalence of obesity in the childhood group is higher than the past years. Omentin-1 is an adipokine which is synthesized from the visceral fat tissue but not synthesized in the subcutaneous fat tissue. Omentin-1 has been shown to increase insulin-mediated glucose uptake, especially in the adipose tissue. Studies have shown that plasma omentin-1 levels, which play an important role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance, are significantly lowered in obese, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and diabetic patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between obesity and omentin-1 levels in children. Methods The study included obese children with a body mass index (BMI) greater than the 95th percentile and healthy children with a BMI lower than the 85th percentile. Obese and healthy individuals had similar age and sex distributions. Glucose, insulin, lipid profiles, thyroid panels and metabolic markers were evaluated. Results The levels of omentin-1 in obese children were significantly lower than in the control group (p<0.05). Results of Spearman's correlation analysis for all participants showed that omentin-1 levels were negatively related with triglycerides, total cholesterol, serum free thyroxine (FT4), insulin, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), body weight, waist circumference (WC) and BMI percentile values. Conclusions Our findings indicate that serum omentin-1 levels are lower in obese children than in non-obese individuals. Omentin-1 can be used as a metabolic biomarker in children and adolescents.
Keywords: adipose tissue; obesity; omentin-1; pediatric obesity.