Authors : Udomsak Mahaweerawat, Thidharat Somdee, Suvimol Sungkamanee and Frank Peter Schelp
Abstract: Obesity in adolescents often remains in adult life and poses obese young males and females to the risk of suffering DM in future or even develop the metabolic syndrome early in life. Prevalence of diabetes mellitus type 2 is frequent in Thailand in particular in the Northeast of the country. The aim of this investigation was to search for early indications of future insulin resistance of overnourished and obese male and female high school students residing in northeastern Thailand. Eighty one male and 219 female high school students with a median age of 15 had been recruited for a cross sectional study. The nutritional status was defined by BMI values adjusted to the IOTF standard. Besides BMI also biceps and triceps skin fold measurements had been taken, in addition to the determination of triglycerides, fasting plasma glucose, insulin HOMA-IR and the adipokines resistin and visfatin. For evaluating the results non-parametric statistics had been applied and a univariate as well multivariate regressions had been conducted. Anthropometric variables, triglycerides, insulin, HOMA-IR and resistin were found to be elevated in the groups of overnourished and obese adolescents. Visfatin did not statistically differ between groups of the different nutritional status but together with sex, skin folds, triglycerides and HOMA-IR contributed significantly to the variation of the BMI selected as dependent variable while resistin did not correlate significantly with BMI. The nutritional status determines the resistin and visfatin blood levels only marginally in a group of overnourished and obese adolescents belonging to a population of high risk to develop diabetes mellitus type 2. The correlation of visfatin to BMI might be an early discrete metabolic reaction to a looming insulin resistance while resistin elevation in overnutrition and obesity might be a more direct indicator towards a further development of diabetes mellitus type 2.
Udomsak Mahaweerawat, Thidharat Somdee, Suvimol Sungkamanee and Frank Peter Schelp, 2011. The Adipokines Resistin and Visfatin in Overnourished and Obese Adolescentsld of a Population at High Risk to Develop Diabetes Mellitus Type 2. Research Journal of Medical Sciences, 5: 176-183.