Exploring the Role of Serum Osteonectin and Hsp27 in Pediatric MAFLD Diagnosis and Cardiometabolic Health.

BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity is one of the major challenges of public health policies. The problem of fatty liver in childhood, known as MAFLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease), is of particular interest as the gold standard diagnosis technique is invasive (liver biopsy). Hence, efforts are made to discover more specific biomarkers for the MAFLD signature. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate Osteonectin and Hsp27 as biomarkers for MAFLD diagnosis and to assess their links with auxological and biochemical profiles of overweight and obese pediatric subjects. METHODS: A cross-sectional study in which we (re)analyzed data from the MR PONy cohort comprising 71 pediatric subjects. Auxological data, liver ultrasonography and biochemical serum profile were recorded. Lipid-derived indices and body composition indices were calculated. Nevertheless, serum Osteonectin and Hsp27 levels were assessed using an ELISA approach. RESULTS: MAFLD prevalence was 40.8%. Higher Osteonectin levels were noted in MAFLD subjects versus non-MAFLD subjects and in dyslipidemic children regardless of their liver function status. Lipid-derived indices had good diagnostic capacity for MAFLD. CONCLUSIONS: We confirm Osteonectin as a MAFLD diagnosis biomarker in children. Also, lipid-derived indices are useful as metabolic-associated organ impairment markers in children even before the onset of obesity.

Endocan and Lumican in Relation to Cardiometabolic Risk in a Pediatric Overweight and Obese Cohort: A Cross-Sectional Study.

The aim of the study was to evaluate serum Endocan and Lumican levels as biomarkers for pediatric Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) and to explore their associations with pediatric cardiometabolic risk factors. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 68 pediatric obese and overweight (O&O) patients. Ten healthy controls were recruited. Serum Lumican and Endocan levels were analyzed using ELISA kits. O&O patients had lower levels of Endocan compared to healthy controls (p < 0.001). There were no differences between serum Endocan levels in O&O patients with NAFLD and those without (p = 0.53). Patients considered having Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) had lower Endocan levels compared to O&O patients without NASH (p = 0.026). Patients with metabolic syndrome had lower levels of Endocan (p = 0.003). There were no significant differences between serum Lumican levels in O&O children compared to healthy controls. Lumican levels were higher in patients with hypertension (p = 0.04). In O&O patients, Lumican levels were negatively correlated with Endocan levels (r = -0.37, p = 0.002). Endocan seems a promising biomarker for the evaluation of pediatric NASH. Lumican was not confirmed as a biomarker for NAFLD in our cohort but was associated with higher arterial pressure. Low Endocan levels are accompanied by high serum Lumican levels, and this could be an early signature of cardiometabolic risk.