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Variations in fat mass, high-sensitive CRP established early in childhood
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Differences in body fat distribution and high-sensitive C-reactive protein — a known marker of systemic inflammation— appear to be determined early in childhood, according to recent study findings.
Researchers further found that the within-individual and between-individual changes in both fat mass and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) do not follow a similar pattern.
In the 7.5-year longitudinal study, the researchers evaluated 396 Finnish girls aged 11.2 ± 0.8 years who were enrolled in the CALEX study at the University of Jyväskylä. Lifestyle, behavioral and dietary traits of all study participants were recorded.
“Fat mass explained the variance of hsCRP during pubertal growth, but the reverse was not true,” the researchers wrote, “which suggests that fat mass may contribute to the development of low-grade inflammation, but not vice versa.”
The researchers used DXA to measure fat mass in kilograms of the entire body. Using automated software, they divided local fat mass distribution measurements by arms, legs and trunk, as well as android and gynoid regions. Fasting blood samples were collected, and blood was assayed at different time points for hsCRP, leptin, adiponectin, estradiol, testosterone and sex hormone-binding globulin. The researchers used a hierarchical nonlinear model to delineate the patterns of change in fat mass and hsCRP levels from prepuberty to early adulthood.
The study researchers found that fat mass and hsCRP concentrations increased with age, but they showed different patterns of change within individual participants and among individuals. According to a joint analysis of fat distribution, the probabilities of association between regional fat mass and hsCRP levels across subgroups ranged from 16% to 53%. Testosterone was revealed by longitudinal regression model to be the common predictive factor for fat mass (P<.01) and hsCRP (P<.05) before menarche. Additional pre-menarche predictors of fat mass were SHBG (P<.01) and leptin (P<.01). Post-menarche predictors of fat mass were hsCRP (P<.01), testosterone (P<.01), leptin (P<.01) and adiponectin (P<.05). Fat mass was the only variable found to be linked to hsCRP before and after the onset of menarche (P<.01).
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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