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[Circadian rhythms of cortisol and insulin in nutritional obesity in children]
I González Morán1, A Sarriá Chueca, M Bueno Sánchez
1Departamento de Pediatría, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Zaragoza.
Insights
Obese children exhibit disrupted insulin circadian rhythms, with delayed acrophases, while cortisol rhythms remain similar to controls. Obesity degree influences these delays but not obesity duration.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Endocrinology
- Chronobiology
- Metabolic Disorders
Context:
- Childhood obesity is a growing global health concern.
- Hormonal regulation, including cortisol and insulin, plays a critical role in metabolic health.
- Circadian rhythms influence physiological processes, and their disruption is linked to various diseases.
Purpose:
- To investigate the relationship between cortisol and insulin levels and their circadian rhythms in obese children.
- To explore correlations between these hormones, anthropometric obesity parameters, and sexual influences.
- To analyze how obesity affects hormonal circadian patterns.
Summary:
- This study analyzed 90 children (73 obese, 17 controls), examining cortisol and insulin levels, their circadian rhythms, and correlations with obesity parameters.
- Obese children showed higher plasma insulin levels, confirming hyperinsulinemia. Cortisol levels were higher in obese males and controls. No correlation was found between hormone levels and body fat.
- While cortisol circadian rhythms were similar in obese and control children, insulin circadian rhythms were disturbed in obese children, with delayed acrophases. The degree of obesity, not its duration, correlated with these rhythm delays.
Impact:
- Findings highlight disturbed insulin circadian rhythms as a potential marker or contributor to obesity-related metabolic dysfunction in children.
- Understanding these chronobiological alterations can inform targeted interventions for childhood obesity.
- This research contributes to the understanding of hormonal regulation and circadian biology in pediatric metabolic health.
Abstract:
It have been studied 90 children (obese 73, non obese or control 17), trying to analyze the following parameters: mean and standard deviation values, its circadian rhythms and relation between cortisol and insulin, correlation between both hormones and anthropometric parameters of obesity and sexual influence with all the studied parameters. The plasmatic cortisol values were higher in male, obese (180.4 +/- 11.2 ng/ml) and control (377.5 +/- 49.2 ng/ml) children. The plasmatic insulin values higher in obese children (55.3 +/- 9.5 microU/ml) verifying the hyperinsulinemia observed in obesity. There was not correlation between cortisol and insulin values with body fat. All the children showed cortisol and insulin circadian rythm. In the groups of obese children the cortisol circadian rythm was similar to the control one. However, the insulin circadian rythm was disturb. So, the acrophase was delayed two hours when male and female were analyzed all together and only one hour in the obese female group. The acrophase of cortisol and insulin rhythms in obese group is delayed in relation with the degree of obesity. The circadian rhythms of cortisol and insulin, in both obese and control groups, are not dependent. The duration of obesity do not have any relation with the mentioned alterations.