Pomares Olga, Vales-Villamarín Claudia, Pérez-Nadador Iris, Mejorado-Molano Francisco J, Soriano-Guillén Leandro, Garcés Carmen
Lipid Research Laboratory, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, UAM, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
Department of Pediatrics, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, UAM, 28040 Madrid, Spain.
J Clin Med. 2024 Nov 30;13(23):7286. doi: 10.3390/jcm13237286.
The relationship of non-esterified fatty acid (NEFA) levels with obesity and obesity-related alterations shows age-dependent variability in children. Leptin, with an important role in energy homeostasis and lipid metabolism, may be related to NEFA levels throughout the first decades of life. This cross-sectional study aims to analyse plasma NEFA levels in children of different ages and evaluate the relationship of leptin with NEFA levels depending on age. : The study sample included 818 prepubertal children (age 6-8 years) and 762 adolescents (age 13-16 years). NEFA levels were measured using the Wako NEFA-C kit. Insulin and leptin levels were determined by IRMA and ELISA, respectively, using commercial kits. The results of the study were found to show that NEFA levels were significantly higher ( < 0.001) in prepubertal children than in children aged 13 to 16 years (0.68 ± 0.3 mmol/L vs. 0.42 ± 0.2 mmol/L, respectively, in males; 0.71 ± 0.3 mmol/L vs. 0.44 ± 0.2 mmol/L, respectively, in females), showing a progressive decrease according to years of life in this cohort of adolescent in both sexes. Leptin and insulin correlated negatively with NEFA levels in younger children but not in older participants. The negative association between NEFA levels and leptin occurring in prepubertal children remained significant when adjusting for insulin. Besides reporting that NEFA levels decrease between the prepubertal age and adolescence, our findings indicate that, in children aged 6-8 years, leptin is associated with NEFA levels, independently of insulin. However, this relationship is not present in older children. Further studies analysing these associations according to pubertal status would be useful to deepen our understand of these findings.
在儿童中，非酯化脂肪酸（NEFA）水平与肥胖及肥胖相关改变之间的关系呈现出年龄依赖性差异。瘦素在能量平衡和脂质代谢中发挥着重要作用，可能在生命的最初几十年中与NEFA水平相关。这项横断面研究旨在分析不同年龄段儿童的血浆NEFA水平，并评估瘦素与NEFA水平随年龄变化的关系。该研究样本包括818名青春期前儿童（6 - 8岁）和762名青少年（13 - 16岁）。使用和光纯药NEFA - C试剂盒测量NEFA水平。胰岛素和瘦素水平分别通过免疫放射分析（IRMA）和酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA），使用商用试剂盒进行测定。研究结果显示，青春期前儿童的NEFA水平显著高于13至16岁的儿童（男性分别为0.68±0.3 mmol/L和0.42±0.2 mmol/L；女性分别为0.71±0.3 mmol/L和0.44±0.2 mmol/L，P<0.001），表明在该队列的青少年中，随着年龄增长，NEFA水平逐渐下降。在年幼的儿童中，瘦素和胰岛素与NEFA水平呈负相关，但在年长参与者中并非如此。在调整胰岛素后，青春期前儿童中NEFA水平与瘦素之间的负相关仍然显著。除了报告青春期前年龄和青春期之间NEFA水平下降外，我们的研究结果表明，在6 - 8岁的儿童中，瘦素与NEFA水平相关，独立于胰岛素。然而，在年长儿童中这种关系不存在。根据青春期状态进一步分析这些关联的研究将有助于加深我们对这些发现的理解。
