A combination of circulating chemokines as biomarkers of obesity-induced insulin resistance at puberty.

BACKGROUND

In obesity adipose tissue undergoes structural re-modelling leading to a chronic low-grade inflammatory state linked to insulin resistance (IR).

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to develop a clinically relevant biomarker model for stratifying IR in adolescents with obesity.

METHODS

Cytokines [tumour cell derived factor 1α, monocyte chemoattract protein (MCP) 1, eotaxin and fractalkine], growth factors [brain-derived neurotrophic factor, pro-fibrotic platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF-BB) and insulin-like growth factor 1] and biochemical/metabolic factors were analysed in serum of 143 pubertal patients with obesity (50% IR; 50% non-IR) and 33 controls. Factor analysis, correlation, binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analysis were used to evaluate combinations of these biomarkers as possible diagnostic tools for IR.

RESULTS

Two biomarker IR models combining levels of triglycerides (TG)/HDL, eotaxin, MCP-1 and PDGF-BB in pubertal patients with obesity of both sexes were defined. Altered levels of MCP-1, eotaxin, and PDGF-BB constitute a main component that determines 27.7% of the variance explaining IR. Growth and inflammatory factors comprise two other components linked to the first, together accounting for 59.2% of the variance determining IR.

CONCLUSIONS

PDGF-BB, MCP-1, eotaxin, TG and cholesterol concentrations constitute a solid panel of biomarkers associated with IR in pubertal children with obesity that could be useful in their stratification in a clinical setting for stratification.