Plasma Levels of Neudesin and Glucose Metabolism in Obese and Overweight Children

Abstract

Childhood overweight and obesity are among the major health problems of modern times, especially in Western countries, due to their association with increased cardiovascular and cancer risk in adulthood. Neudesin, a recently discovered peptide secreted mainly in the brain and adipose tissue, is being investigated for its possible activity as a negative regulator of energy expenditure. We conducted a cross-sectional observational preliminary study with the aim of testing the hypothesis that plasma levels of neudesin can be modified in obese and overweight children and to evaluate any possible relationship between plasma neudesin levels and metabolic and anthropometric parameters. 34 Children (Tanner’s stage 1) were included and divided in two groups according to Cole’s criteria. Group A included obese and overweight children (23 patients, 17 females and 6 males, aged 4-10 years); Group B included healthy normal-weight children (11 subjects, 7 females and 4 males, aged 3-10 years). Metabolic (glucose and insulin, total, LDL- and HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, uric acid) and hormonal (fT3, fT4, TSH, IGF-1, leptin) parameters were evaluated. HOMA-IR and QUICKI index and the area under the curve (AUC) of glucose and insulin after oral glucose load were calculated in obese and overweight children. Neudesin was measured by ELISA. Neudesin levels were significantly higher in obese/overweight children than in controls. In obese and overweight children, plasma neudesin levels were significantly directly correlated with blood glucose and glucose AUC. Taken together, these results, although preliminary, may suggest a possible age-related role of neudesin in glucose homeostasis in obese/overweight children.

Studying Neudesin marker in Iraqi Thyroid Dysfunction Patients

“…Neudesin levels in the blood of adults with a recent diagnosis of type 2 diabetes were greater than those of controls of the same age and body mass index [18]. In contrast to the majority of the earlier publications, in which neudesin serum concentrations are around 30 times greater than in our study [16,7], We found that the amount of neudesin in the blood of fat teens was much lower than that of normal-weight teens [19].…”

Neudesin Levels in Patients with Thyroidism

“…On the other hand, compared to controls of the same age and BMI, adult patients with newly diagnosed T2DM had higher serum levels of neudesin (14) . However, the detected serum concentrations of neudesin are roughly 30 times greater than those in our paper in the majority of the earlier papers (14 15, 16) It was noted that obese adolescents' plasma levels of neudesin were significantly lower than those of normal-weight adolescents (17) . The release of neudesin into the blood was thought to be a defence mechanism against IR and being overweight (18) .…”

IGF-1 and IGF-2 as Molecules Linked to Causes and Consequences of Obesity from Fetal Life to Adulthood: A Systematic Review

“…Data on the relationship between IGF-1 levels and weight in children are inconsistent. There are studies describing comparable [2], lower [29][30][31][32][33], or higher [3,20,[34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41] IGF-1 levels and higher IGF-2 levels [4] in obese children compared to their normal-weight peers. However, IGF-1 shows a tendency to drop in children with extremely high BMI values [39].…”