De Simone M, Verrotti A, Cappa M, Iughetti L, Di Cesare E, Palumbo M, Bernabei R, Rosato T
Department of Experimental Medicine, Institute of Pediatrics, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
J Endocrinol Invest. 2003 May;26(5):414-9. doi: 10.1007/BF03345196.
The association between lipoprotein (a) [Lp(a)] and cardiovascular diseases is well known. Lp(a) is an independent risk factor for the development of atherosclerosis. Little information concerning Lp(a) during childhood is available. The aim of the present investigation was to determine the Lp(a) concentration in a cohort of children aged between 4 and 15 yr and to correlate Lp(a) with: a) overweight status; b) body fat distribution; c) family history of vascular diseases in their parents and grandparents. Six hundred and eighty-nine children (350 males, 339 females), were enrolled in the study. BMI as index of being overweight was calculated; the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and the waist-to-thigh ratio (WTR) were calculated to obtain two anthropometric indexes for the pattern of body fat distribution. The areas of visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were evaluated by MRI at the L4-L5 level in only 30 overweight subjects. The serum of Lp(a), total cholesterol (TC), HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides were evaluated in the whole population. Moreover, the same biochemical study was performed in 70 children's parents randomly chosen. A structured questionnaire was administered to the children's parents to investigate the presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in family stories. Our data show no Lp(a) serum differences between children according to sex, age and body composition. The strong correlation between the children's and the parents' Lp(a) concentrations and the occurrence of CVD in their grandparents suggests that Lp(a) represents an important independent early risk factor for the development of CVD in adulthood. Measurements of Lp(a) in childhood may help to evaluate this risk in subjects with family history of cardiovascular diseases.
脂蛋白(a)[Lp(a)]与心血管疾病之间的关联众所周知。Lp(a)是动脉粥样硬化发生发展的独立危险因素。关于儿童期Lp(a)的信息很少。本研究的目的是测定一组4至15岁儿童的Lp(a)浓度，并将Lp(a)与以下因素相关联：a)超重状态；b)身体脂肪分布；c)其父母和祖父母的血管疾病家族史。689名儿童(350名男性，339名女性)参与了该研究。计算BMI作为超重指标；计算腰臀比(WHR)和腰大腿比(WTR)以获得两个身体脂肪分布模式的人体测量指标。仅对30名超重受试者在L4-L5水平通过MRI评估内脏脂肪组织(VAT)和皮下脂肪组织(SAT)的面积。在整个人群中评估Lp(a)、总胆固醇(TC)、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇、低密度脂蛋白胆固醇和甘油三酯的血清水平。此外，对随机选择的70名儿童的父母进行了相同的生化研究。向儿童的父母发放了一份结构化问卷，以调查家族病史中是否存在心血管疾病(CVD)。我们的数据显示，根据性别、年龄和身体组成，儿童之间的Lp(a)血清水平没有差异。儿童与父母的Lp(a)浓度之间的强相关性以及其祖父母中CVD的发生表明，Lp(a)是成年期CVD发生发展的重要独立早期危险因素。儿童期Lp(a)的测量可能有助于评估有心血管疾病家族史的受试者的这种风险。
