Association between plasma leptin/adiponectin ratio and insulin resistance indexes in prepubertal children

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Endocrinology
• Metabolic Health
• Obesity Research

Background:

• Insulin resistance is a growing concern in prepubertal children, often linked to obesity.
• Leptin and adiponectin are key hormones in metabolic regulation, and their ratio (LAR) may reflect insulin sensitivity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the leptin/adiponectin ratio (LAR) and various insulin resistance surrogates in a cohort of prepubertal children.
• To identify which insulin resistance surrogate shows the strongest association with LAR.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 968 Chilean prepubertal children in the Growth and Obesity Chilean Cohort Study (GOCS).
• Measured plasma insulin, leptin, and adiponectin; calculated insulin resistance surrogates including HOMA-IR, TG/HDL, TyG index, TyG-BMI, and TyG-WC.
• Employed multiple linear and logistic regression analyses to assess associations.

Main Results:

• Plasma leptin and LAR were significantly associated with BMI z-score.
• After adjusting for age and sex, LAR showed significant associations with all tested insulin resistance surrogates.
• The triglyceride-glucose-waist circumference (TyG-WC) index demonstrated the strongest association with LAR (OR 2.44).
• Even after adjusting for BMI z-score, the association between LAR and TyG-WC remained significant (OR 1.64).

Conclusions:

• The leptin/adiponectin ratio (LAR) is strongly associated with common insulin resistance surrogates in prepubertal children.
• The triglyceride-glucose-waist circumference (TyG-WC) index emerged as the most robust surrogate marker associated with LAR.
• The observed associations are primarily driven by plasma leptin levels, which correlate with increased adiposity.