Irisin in Relation to Anthropometric and Metabolic Parameters in Obese Children

Abstract

Childhood obesity has become a major global health problem in the recent years. It is the most important public health challenge for the 21st century, not only due to the rapidly increasing prevalence rates among children and adolescents, but also due to the consequences seen into adulthood. Children and adolescents constitute around 15 % of the 1.5 billion obese population; 75 % of them from the developing countries. Irisin is a novel glycosylated polypeptide hormone derived from its precursor fibronectin type III domain containing protein 5, located in the plasma membrane, after the cleavage of its extracellular portion. Many studies revealed that irisin is involved in the pathogenesis of various complications of obesity including dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and arterial hypertension, summarized in the definition of the Metabolic Syndrome. Our study was carried out at National Research Centre. It included 40 obese children of both sexes with body mass index ≥ 95th percentile for age and sex, in addition to 40 normal weight children with BMI between (15th and 85th percentile) with matching age and sex as control. A detailed history was taken. Full clinical examination, anthropometric assessment, laboratory investigations (including irisin, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar and insulin) and pubertal development was done for each child.