Increased serum circulating asprosin levels in children with obesity.

BACKGROUND

Childhood obesity is a growing and significant problem worldwide. Asprosin is a novel adipokine that is significantly associated with glucose and insulin production in the liver during fasting. In the present study, we aimed to demonstrate whether there would be differences between obese, overweight, and normal weight children in terms of serum asprosin levels.

METHODS

Forty-four children with obesity, 54 overweight children, and 60 normal weight children were compared in terms of serum asprosin levels and other anthropometric, biochemical, and hormonal parameters that are associated with being overweight and with obesity.

RESULTS

Serum asprosin levels were found to be significantly different between groups: 70.903 ± 17.49 ng/mL, 79.744 ± 29.54 ng/mL, and 106.293 ± 122.69 ng/mL in normal weight, overweight, and obese children respectively. Post-hoc analysis revealed that the asprosin level was significantly higher in obese children compared with normal weight children (P = 0.009). Additionally, asprosin was found to be a predictor of obesity in multiple regression analysis.

CONCLUSION

Our study is the first to demonstrate increased levels of asprosin in obese children compared with normal weight children. Further studies are needed to demonstrate the role of asprosin in the etiology of childhood obesity, as well as other diseases that might be associated with effects of asprosin.