Background: Serum ischemia modified albumin (IMA) levels have been previously studied and found to correlate with some anthropometric and laboratory measurements in adult obesity. IMA had not been studied in obese children and adolescents.
Objective: The aim of the study is to analyze serum IMA levels and to evaluate their correlation with cardiovascular risk factors in obese children and adolescents with and without metabolic syndrome (MS).
Subjects and methods: Sixty-one obese children/adolescents and 33 healthy children were included in the study. The obese group was divided into four subgroups, including MS (n=25), non-MS (n=36), liver steatosis (n=19) and non-liver steatosis (n=42) groups. Blood was collected to analyze biochemical parameters and IMA. Epicardial adipose tissue thickness was measured with echocardiography, and liver steotosis was determined with ultrasonography for each subject.
Results: Body mass index (BMI), waist circumferences (WC), left ventricular mass (LVM) and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness were significantly higher in obese subjects. Serum IMA levels were significantly higher in the metabolic syndrome (MS) and hepatosteotosis groups. Additionally, LVM and EAT thickness were found to be correlated with serum IMA levels in these groups.
Conclusions: Our study suggests that serum IMA levels may be used to predict cardiovascular risk in obese children with MS and hepatosteotosis. This may be related to the duration of obesity in childhood ending in adulthood.