Comparison of Serum Levels of Osteoprotegerin, Insulin, Triglyceride, and Cholesterol in Obese and Non-obese Children

Childhood obesity is associated with cardiovascular risk factors including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, hypertension, and atherosclerosis. Some studies have also shown that mortality in obese people is higher than in other non-obese people. Due to the prevalence of obesity and the need to investigate the causes of atherosclerosis, insulin resistance and other related disorders, we tried to assess the serum levels of osteoprotein, insulin, triglycerides and cholesterol in obese and non-obese children.

In this case-control study, we randomly selected 76 students aged 12-18 years in Birjand schools in 2019 and stratified them into obese and overweight groups as the case arm and non-obese groups as the control arm. We used a “Secca” height-weight scale with an accuracy of 50 grams and 0.1 cm to measure the children’s height and weight. The children’s venous blood samples were collected and the sera were isolated. The following kits were licensed in Germany and made in China: The Roche kit for cholesterol, triglyceride, and glucose, the Diametra kit for insulin, and the Eastbiopharm kit for osteoprotegerin. For analyses of data, independent t-test, Mann-Whitney and Chi-square test were used. The significance level for all the test was less than 5%.

Both case and control groups were similar in terms of age and sex (P>0.05). The mean serum levels of triglycerides, cholesterol, insulin, and glucose in the case group were significantly higher than in the control group (p <0.05). The mean osteoprotegerin level was significantly lower in the case group than in the control group (p <0.05).

Obese children have a higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, and other metabolic disorders.