Cardiac dysfunction in children with essential obesity: preliminary data

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Cardiology
• Metabolic Disorders

Background:

• Childhood obesity is a significant risk factor for diseases and reduced life expectancy.
• Early identification of cardiac alterations in obese children is crucial for timely intervention.
• Inflammatory markers may play a role in the early stages of obesity-related cardiac dysfunction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if clinical, biohumoral, and inflammatory markers can predict cardiac structural and functional changes in obese children.
• To assess the correlation between High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1) levels, lipid profiles, and echocardiographic findings in pediatric obesity.
• To understand the role of inflammation in the early pathogenesis of cardiac compromise in obese children.

Main Methods:

• Prospective enrollment of 22 obese children and adolescents.
• Evaluation of clinical parameters (waist circumference, BMI), biohumoral parameters (cholesterol, LDL), and the inflammatory marker HMGB1.
• Transthoracic echocardiogram to assess cardiac structure and function.

Main Results:

• Obese children exhibited significantly higher HMGB1 levels compared to healthy controls.
• A strong positive correlation was observed between total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and HMGB1 levels.
• No significant correlation was found between clinical/biohumoral parameters and echocardiographic findings.
• Echocardiograms in obese children often showed normal cardiac parameters despite potential early functional alterations.

Conclusions:

• Obesity in children can impair myocardial function early, even without overt comorbidities.
• Elevated HMGB1 levels suggest a role for inflammation in initiating meta-inflammation and cardiac compromise.
• Monitoring inflammatory markers alongside lipid profiles may aid in detecting subclinical cardiac changes in obese pediatric populations.