ESPE Abstracts

Background: Obesity is associated with metabolic abnormalities, which result in progression to insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome. The underlying stimulus for these metabolic abnormalities in obesity is not clear, however, recent evidence suggests that systemic, low-level elevations of gut-derived endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) may play a role in obesity-related metabolic abnormalities.

Objective: To study the metabolic endotoxemia in obese children and adolescents and its potential relation to insulin resistance, lipid profile, and CRP.

Subjects and methods: The Study included thirty obese children and adolescents aged 5–18 years and 20 non-obese children matched for age and sex as a control group. Lipid profile, liver function tests, CRP, and serum lipopolysaccaride (LPS) were done, Insulin resistance was calculated using Homeostasis model assessment (Homa-IR) and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (QUICKI), Abdominal ultrasound was done for detection of fatty liver.

Results: The mean age in obese children was 10.23±3.08 years compared to 9.15±2.89 years in the control group. CRP and LPS were significantly higher in obese group compared to the control. There was a significant positive correlation between serum LPS with BMI, waist circumference, TG, cholesterol, fasting insulin, HOMA- IR, CRP, and frequency of eating junk food. Also, there was a significant negative correlation between LPS with physical activity and QUICKI.

Conclusions: Metabolic endotoxemia may have a role in cardio-metabolic disease risk factors associated with obesity in children and adolescents.