Background: The objective of this study was to examine the associations between adiposity, metabolic syndrome (MetS), cytokines and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in youth with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and non-syndromic obesity (OB).
Methods: Twenty-one youth with PWS and 34 with OB aged 8-15 years participated. Measurements included body composition, blood pressure, fasting blood markers for glucose control, lipids and inflammation and MVPA. Group differences for adiposity, MetS, blood parameters and MVPA were determined using independent t-tests and chi-square (χ2) analyses. Bivariate correlations and analysis of variance (ANOVA) examined the associations between adiposity, MetS severity, cytokines and MVPA.
Results: PWS presented similar percentage of body fat (%), lower body mass index (BMI) z-scores, insulin resistance, triglycerides, MetS severity, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and MVPA and higher high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and adiponectin (ADP) than OB. Fewer PWS presented MetS based on BMI z-score (61.9% vs. 91.2%) and glucose (14.3% vs. 44.1%) compared to OB. In all youth, MetS severity was significantly associated with body fat %, ADP, interleukin-6 (IL-6) and TNF-α and also with CRP in PWS, but associations became non-significant for CRP and IL-6 when controlling for body fat %. In PWS, those with low MVPA had significantly higher TNF-α than those with high MVPA (1.80±0.45 vs. 1.39±0.26 pg/mL).
Conclusions: Although PWS presented better cardiometabolic profiles than OB and lower MetS risk, associations between body fat, MetS and cytokines were somewhat similar for both groups, with the exception of CRP. Results suggest a potential role for MVPA related to MetS and inflammation and extend associations shown in OB to PWS.
Keywords: Prader-Willi syndrome; cytokines; obesity; physical activity.