Roh Eui Jung, Lim Jae Woo, Ko Kyoung Og, Cheon Eun Jung
Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Konyang University, Daejeon, Korea.
J Korean Med Sci. 2007 Apr;22(2):192-7. doi: 10.3346/jkms.2007.22.2.192.
Childhood obesity seems to contribute to the development of vascular inflammation and the progression of arterial wall changes. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) has recently emerged as a useful biomarker for vascular inflammation associated with atherosclerosis. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the association of the serum hs-CRP level with ultrasonic findings of early atherosclerosis, carotid intima-media wall thickness (IMT) and brachial flow-mediated dilation (FMD), in obese children. Thirty eight obese children and 45 sex/age-matched healthy control children were recruited. Serum CRP levels were measured by the high-sensitive latex turbidimetric immunoassay, and we measured carotid IMT and brachial FMD using high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography. Obese children had significantly higher hs-CRP levels (1.40+/-0.74 mg/L vs. 0.55+/-0.49 mg/L, p<0.01), as well as increased IMT (0.52+/-0.09 mm vs. 0.41+/-0.07 mm, p<0.01) and impaired FMD (7.35+/-7.78% vs. 20.34+/-16.81%, p<0.01) compared to healthy controls. Serum hs-CRP correlated positively with IMT (r=0.413, p<0.05) and inversely with FMD (r=-0.350, p<0.05) in the obesity group. Measurement of the serum hs-CRP level is a simple, cheap, and highly reproducible assay and correlates with IMT and FMD in obese children. Thus, it would be a useful marker for evaluating and estimating the degree of atherosclerosis in children.
儿童肥胖似乎会导致血管炎症的发展以及动脉壁变化的进展。高敏C反应蛋白（hs-CRP）最近已成为与动脉粥样硬化相关的血管炎症的一种有用生物标志物。本研究的目的是评估肥胖儿童血清hs-CRP水平与早期动脉粥样硬化的超声检查结果、颈动脉内膜中层厚度（IMT）和肱动脉血流介导的血管舒张功能（FMD）之间的关联。招募了38名肥胖儿童和45名性别/年龄匹配的健康对照儿童。采用高敏乳胶比浊免疫法测定血清CRP水平，并使用高分辨率B型超声测量颈动脉IMT和肱动脉FMD。与健康对照相比，肥胖儿童的hs-CRP水平显著更高（1.40±0.74mg/L对0.55±0.49mg/L，p<0.01），IMT增加（0.52±0.09mm对0.41±0.07mm，p<0.01），FMD受损（7.35±7.78%对20.34±16.81%，p<0.01）。在肥胖组中，血清hs-CRP与IMT呈正相关（r=0.413，p<0.05），与FMD呈负相关（r=-0.350，p<0.05）。血清hs-CRP水平的测定是一种简单、廉价且重复性高的检测方法，并且与肥胖儿童的IMT和FMD相关。因此，它将是评估和估计儿童动脉粥样硬化程度的一种有用标志物。
