Abstract
BACKGROUND: Childhood obesity represents a major health concern worldwide due to its well established detrimental effect on cardiovascular and its potential negative effect on kidney functions. However, biomarkers that can help diagnose early stages of kidney damage in obese children represent an unmet clinical need. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we asked whether the prevalence of microalbuminuria, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) or hyperuricemia recorded in a wide cohort of obese children and adolescents would positively correlate with cardiometabolic dysfunction in these subjects. METHODS: We carried out a cross-sectional study on 360 obese children and adolescents between the ages of 3-18 years, enrolled in a tertiary care center. Clinical and biochemical evaluations including oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) were performed on all patients. Microalbuminuria was defined as urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (u-ACR) of 30-300 mg/g. All data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation (SD), absolute values or percentages. Sex age-specific and eGFR SDs were used for statistical analyses. Serum uric acid ≥ 5.5 mg/dL was considered abnormal. RESULTS: The prevalence of microalbuminuria was 6.4%. Except for a lower insulinogenic-index, no correlations between microalbuminuria and cardiometabolic risk factors were detected. eGFR was < -1 SD and > 1 SD in 1.4% and 60.8% of subjects, respectively. Subjects with an eGFR > 1 SD had higher systolic blood pressure, liver enzymes, insulin resistance, glucose and insulin during OGTT, lower insulin sensitivity and a more prevalent microalbuminuria. Hyperuricemia (27.5%) increased the odds of hypertension, HDL ≤ 10th percentile and glucose ≥ 155.0 mg/dL after 60 minutes of OGTT. CONCLUSIONS: A worse cardiometabolic profile was observed in subjects with an eGFR > 1 SD compared to other subgroups. Therefore, pediatric obese patients with eGFR > 1 SD or hyperuricemia should be closely monitored for microalbuminuria and post-challenge glucose and insulin secretion, all potential indicators of renal dysfunction in these young patients.