Objective: To study the features of blood lipid metabolic profile in overweight/obese boys aged 9-12 years and the possible mechanism of overweight/obesity in children.
Methods: According to body mass index (BMI), 72 boys, aged 9-12 years, were divided into a control group with 42 boys and an overweight/obesity group with 30 boys. Fasting venous blood samples were collected early in the morning. BMI, waist-hip ratio, body composition, and blood lipids were measured. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry technique was used to analyze the serum lipid compounds. A statistical analysis and visualization of the data were performed.
Results: Compared with the control group, the overweight/obesity group had significantly higher waist-hip ratio, body fat percentage, and triglyceride level (P<0.05) and a significantly lower level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (P<0.05). The metabolomic analysis identified 150 differentially expressed lipid compounds between the two groups, mainly glycerolipids (40.7%), glycerophospholipids (24.7%), fatty acyls (10.7%), and sphingolipids (7.3%). The levels of most of glycerolipids were significantly upregulated in the overweight/obesity group, while those of most of glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids were downregulated in this group. Key lipids with differential expression were enriched into two KEGG metabolic pathways, i.e., ether lipid metabolism pathway and terpenoid backbone biosynthesis pathway (P<0.05), and might further affected the biosynthesis and metabolism of downstream coenzyme Q and other terpenoids (P=0.06).
Conclusions: Disordered lipid metabolic profile is observed in overweight/obese boys aged 9-12 years, with increases in most glycerolipids and reductions in glycerophospholipids and sphingolipids. Overweight/obese boys may have disorders in ether lipid metabolism and biosynthesis of terpenoid and even coenzyme Q.
目的: 探讨9~12岁超重/肥胖男童的血脂代谢谱变化特征及儿童超重/肥胖发生的可能机制。
方法: 将招募的72名9~12岁男童根据体重指数（BMI）分为对照组（n=42）和超重/肥胖组（n=30）。采集清晨空腹静脉血，对受试者的BMI、腰臀比、身体成分及血脂进行测量，同时采用超高效液相色谱与四极杆飞行时间质谱联用的代谢组学检测方法测试血清脂质化合物，并对数据进行统计分析和可视化。
结果: 超重/肥胖组男童的腰臀比、体脂百分数和三酰甘油水平显著高于对照组（P < 0.05），高密度脂蛋白胆固醇水平显著低于对照组（P < 0.05）。代谢组学分析筛选出两组150种具有显著差异的脂质化合物，主要包含甘油脂类（40.7%）、甘油磷脂类（24.7%）、脂肪酰基类（10.7%）和鞘脂类（7.3%）。大多数甘油脂类水平在超重/肥胖组呈显著上调，而大部分甘油磷脂和鞘脂类出现下调。关键差异脂质被显著富集到2个KEGG代谢通路中，分别为醚酯代谢以及萜类生物骨架合成通路（P < 0.05），并可能进一步影响下游的辅酶Q及其他萜类的生物合成代谢（P=0.06）。
结论: 9~12岁超重/肥胖男童的脂质代谢谱紊乱，绝大部分甘油脂类含量增加，甘油磷脂和鞘脂下调，并可能存在醚酯代谢以及萜类甚至辅酶Q的生物合成紊乱。