Prevalence of Dyslipidemia and Associated Factors in Obese Children and Adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: Childhood-onset obesity is associated with increased mortality and morbidity related to cardiovascular diseases (CVD) during adulthood. Dyslipidemia has a fundamental role in the pathogenesis of CVD. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence of dyslipidemia and related factors among obese children and adolescents. METHODS: Obese patients aged between 2 and 18 years were included in the study. Serum concentrations of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), fasting glucose levels, insulin, thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free thyroxine (fT4), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and liver ultrasound findings were evaluated retrospectively. RESULTS: Among 823 obese patients, 353 (42.9%) met the dyslipidemia criteria: 21.7% had hypertriglyceridemia, 19.7% had low levels of HDL-C, 18.6% had hypercholesterolemia, and 13.7% had high levels of LDL-C. Older age and/or high body mass index (BMI) were related to increased prevalence of dyslipidemia. Hepatosteatosis was more common among dyslipidemic patients. The frequency of insulin resistance (IR) and of higher levels of ALT and TSH were also detected in dyslipidemic patients. Patients with both dyslipidemia and grade 2-3 hepatosteatosis had higher levels of ALT, AST and TSH and lower levels of fT4. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of dyslipidemia is high in obese children, and hypertriglyceridemia is in the foreground. Higher levels of IR and more apparent abnormal liver function test results are observed in the context of dyslipidemia and hepatosteatosis coexistence. Metabolic and hormonal alterations related with thyroid functions may also be associated with dyslipidemia and hepatosteatosis in obese patients.

Increased levels of serum neopterin in attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is the most frequently occurring neuropsychiatric disorder in childhood with an etiology that is not fully understood. A number of reviews that have addressed the neurobiology of ADHD have focused on imaging and genetics. Relatively little attention has been given to factors/mechanisms involved in the brain dysfunction. We suggest that changes in cellular immunity may be involved. Neopterin is a good indicator of cellular immunity, and we evaluated serum levels of neopterin in patients with ADHD. The study group consisted of 49 patients with ADHD. An age- and gender-matched control group was composed of 31 healthy subjects. Venous blood samples were collected, and the levels of neopterin were measured. The levels of neopterin were significantly higher in ADHD than in the comparison subjects. Cellular immunity may have a role in the etiopathogenesis of ADHD.