Introduction: An adverse pattern of blood lipids and cardiovascular abnormalities starts in obese children during childhood and neopterin serves as a marker for cardiovascular disease. Unfortunately, the data for children and adolescents, particularly, in the Indian population, are scarce. The present study aimed at evaluating the levels of serum neopterin in obese and overweight children and adolescents of the Indian population.
Methods: The study groups included 296 school going children and adolescents. (96 obese and 97 overweight subjects were compared with 103 normal controls who were aged between 10-17 years). The anthropometric variables, the lipid profile, the fasting serum glucose which was analyzed by using an autoanalyzer and the serum neopterin levels were assayed by HPLC (Shimazdu) by using the method of Palfrey et al., 1993. The serum insulin levels were measured by using ELISA kits.
Results: The serum neopterin levels (nmol/l) were elevated significantly in the obese (7.4±1.4) and overweight (6.4±0.8) (p<0.001) children and adolescents than in the controls (4.9±0.9). The serum neopterin levels showed a positive correlation with the BMI (r=0.79), WHR (r=0.5), systolic (r=0.44) and diastolic blood pressures (r= 0.25), insulin (r=0.57), HOMAIR (r=0.55), total cholesterol (r=0.35), triglycerides (r=0.20) and LDL-C (r=0.27) and they showed a negative correlation with HDL-C (r=-0.15) and fasting glucose (r= -0.3).
Conclusion: This study revealed a good relationship between serum neopterin and the anthropometric and biochemical parameters. We, therefore, aim to conduct regular camps at schools to counsel and advise the identified overweight and obese children to go for physical exercise and a balanced diet. The implementation of preventive measures from early childhood will have far reaching benefits, as even the prevalence of other obesity related disorders could decline.
Keywords: Children; HPLC; Neopterin; Obesity.