ESPE Abstracts

Introduction: Many evidences confirmed that hyperuricemia is connected with obesity, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular risk, not only among adults. Uric acid (UA) interacts with other factors in the modulation of obesity and its complications, since childhood. The study aims to identify any correlations between AU plasma concentrations and the clinical/laboratory data of a group of obese Italian children living in the province of Salerno, Campania.

Materials and Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 70 children (30M, 40F, age 5-16 years) with obesity (BMI z-score 2.47 ± 0.28) assessed at the pediatric endocrinology service of the Pediatric Unit - PO di Battipaglia - ASL Salerno from January 2016 to January 2020. All of them practiced: weight, height, BMI z-score, waist circumference (WC), neck circumference (NC) and blood pressure measurement; glucose, insulin (for calculating HOMA index), c-peptide, ALT, AST, gamma GT, total cholesterol, HDl, LDl, triglycerides, ESR, PCR blood dosages. They also followed the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The correlation coefficient was calculated between UA and clinical/laboratory identified values.

Results: UA significantly increases with weight (r=0.58458 P=0.00001), BMI z-score (r=0.44029 P=0.00247), WC (r=0.54632 P=0.00047), NC (r=0.54286 P=0.00043), gamma GT (r=0.35260 P=0.00296) and gamma GT/HDL ratio (r=0.48958 P=0.00002). An interesting relationship emerged between UA and glucose metabolism. In particular, as UA levels grow, c-peptide (r=0.56330 P=0.00015), insulin (r=0.33270 P=0.00522), HOMA index (r=0,30669 P=0.01097) and HbA1c (r=0.24706 P=0.04724) respectively increase. Finally, a significant negative correlation is noted between UA, FT3 (r=-0.24606 P=0.04005) and Thyroglobulin (r=-0.34416 P=0.02966).

Conclusion: UA can be considered a laboratory marker of pediatric obesity and its hepatomethabolic complications. In particular, the relationship with insulin resistance indicators and glucose metabolism in our obese children is evident. UA action for cardiovascular damage could also be helped by thyroid disfunctions. However, further studies are needed for considering UA as a reliable predictor of the main complications of pediatric obesity.