Objective: To review findings on chemerin and factors related to cardiovascular risk in
children and adolescents.Data source: A systematic review was performed, according to the standards proposed by
the PRISMA guideline, on PubMed, Science Direct, and Lilacs databases. The
descriptor “chemerin” was used in combination with “children” and
“adolescent”, no time limit applied. The research encompassed only original
articles written in English, conducted with human subjects - the adult and
elderly populations excluded -, as well as literature reviews, brief
communications, letters, and editorials.Data synthesis: After independent analyses of the studies by two reviewers, seven articles
meeting the eligibility criteria, published between 2012 and 2016, remained
for the review. Cross-sectional, prospective, cohort, and case-control
studies were included. The importance of chemerin adipokines on the risk
factors for cardiovascular disease is demonstrated by its association with
obesity and diabetes mellitus, as well as clinical, anthropometric, and
biochemical parameters. However, the strength of evidence from these studies
is relatively low, due to their heterogeneity, with several limitations such
as small samples and consequent lack of representativeness, lack of
standardization in dosage methods, cross-sectional design of most studies,
and impossibility of extrapolating results.Conclusions: The deregulation of chemerin caused by increased adipose tissue may
contribute to the development of cardiovascular diseases, suggesting that
this adipokine may play a significant role in early identification of
individuals at risk.