ABSTRACT
Objective To assess whether apoB/apoA1 ratio is associated or not with metabolic syndrome in obese children. Methods A 198 obese children and 41 healthy control subjects were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. The apoB/ apoA1 ratio and other metabolic sydrome components in obese children with/without metabolic syndrome were compared to healthy controls. Results The apoA1 level did not show significant difference (p=0.664) but apoB level (p=0.000) and apoB/apoA1 ratio (p=0.001) were significantly higher in obese group than in control group. Also, the apoB/apoA1 ratio was significantly higher in obese children with metabolic syndrome when compared to obese children without metabolic syndrome (p=0.007) and showed positive correlation with triglyceride (r=0.404, p=0.000) and negative correlation with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (r=−0.593, p=0.000). Conclusions The apoB/apoA1 ratio is associated with metabolic syndrome in obese children. An elevated apoB/apoA1 ratio may constitute an important feature of the metabolic syndrome. There is a need for long term follow-up studies concerning cardiovascular risk in obese children with metabolic syndrome and high apoB/ apoA1 ratio.