Rising prevalence of obesity has become an important impulse to investigate basic mechanisms involved in regulating the energy balance. It is widely accepted that steroids are potent factors affecting glucose, fat, and protein metabolism. Our study was aimed to analyze differences in the total amount of selected enzymes implicated in steroid metabolism in a group of children suffering from obesity and those with normal weight, further subdivided according to sex and pubertal stage. Data were obtained from 187 Caucasian children and adolescents, including 113 patients (63 girls, 50 boys) with obesity and 74 (34 girls, 40 boys) normal weight volunteers. Standard clinical examinations were performed in both groups. To evaluate the impact of puberty, preadolescent children and those with advanced puberty were assessed separately. Urine steroid excretion profiles were analyzed using gas chromatography/mass spectrometry method. Children with obesity revealed several changes in in the total amount of steroid enzymes as assessed by the relevant metabolite proportions, compared to their norm weight peers. Girls showed a significant increase in the activity of 11βHSD1, while boys demonstrated a relevant elevation in 20αHSD action. Regardless of sex, children with obesity showed an increase in the activity of 5β-reductase + 3αHSD complex and a decrease in the involvement of 11βOH-lase. The effect is attenuated when consider pre- and pubertal subgroups. We hypothesize that changes in the activity levels of selected enzymes may be a compensatory mechanism to limit the glucocorticoid exposure of key target tissues as well as to improve metabolic control and reduce long-term complications of obesity.
Keywords: Adolescents; Children; Obesity; Puberty; Steroid enzymes activity; Urinary steroid metabolites.
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