Homocysteine, insulin, vitamin B(12) and folic acid levels in obese children

Park, Jee Yoon; Hong, Young Mi

Abstract

PURPOSE: As the prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance and diabetes mellitus have become problems. High homocysteine levels and low vitamin B(12) supplementation are acknowledged to have a role in coronary artery disease, but there are few studies on homocysteine, insulin and vitamin B(12) levels in obese children. We aimed to study whether homocysteine, insulin, vitamin B(12), folic acid levels could have any difference and relation in obese children.
METHODS
The disease group consisted of 27 children from 8 to 11 years old, whose obesity index was over 130. The control group consisted of 30 healthy children of the same age group. Obesity index and body mass index were calculated by height and body weight of the children, and their systolic and diastolic blood pressures at resting state were checked. Total cholesterol, triglyceride, homocysteine, insulin, vitamin B(12), folic acid levels were studied after 10 hours of fasting. Intracellular fluid, extracellular fluid, protein, mineral, muscle mass, lean body fat, fat mass and fat percentages were checked by bioelectrical impedance.
RESULTS
Homocysteine levels were higher in obese children(8.1+/-2.1 micromol/mL vs. 4.9+/-1.0 micromol/mL). Insulin levels were also higher in obese children(26.8+/-11.2 microIU/mL vs. 12.5+/-5.24 microIUl/mL). Vitamin B(12) was lower in obese children(798.6+/-174.3 pg/mL vs. 967.8+/-405.0 pg/mL). But there was not a difference in the folic acid levels between the two groups. In obese children, systolic blood pressure (r=0.535), triglyceride(r=0.517), total cholesterol(r=0.408), folic acid(r=0.408), vitamin B12(r=0.338) and abdomoanl fat %(r=0.306) had a positive correlation.
CONCLUSION
We found definite differences of insulin, homocysteine, and vitamin B(12) plasma levels in obese children, but we need more study to use those parameters as risk factors of metabolic syndrome in pediatric obese patients.