Impaired Reverse Cholesterol Transport is Associated with Changes in Fatty Acid Profile in Children and Adolescents with Abdominal Obesity.

BACKGROUND: Abdominal obesity is an important cardiovascular disease risk factor. Plasma fatty acids display a complex network of both pro and antiatherogenic effects. High density lipoproteins (HDL) carry out the antiatherogenic pathway called reverse cholesterol transport (RCT), which involves cellular cholesterol efflux (CCE), and lecithin:cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) and cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) activities. OBJECTIVES: Our aim was to characterize RCT and its relation to fatty acids present in plasma in pediatric abdominal obesity. METHODS: Seventeen children and adolescents with abdominal obesity and 17 healthy controls were studied. Anthropometric parameters were registered. Glucose, insulin, lipid levels, CCE employing THP-1 cells, LCAT and CETP activities, plus fatty acids in apo B-depleted plasma were measured. RESULTS: The obese group showed a more atherogenic lipid profile, plus lower CCE (Mean±Standard Deviation) (6 ± 2 vs. 7 ± 2%; P < 0.05) and LCAT activity (11 ± 3 vs. 15 ±5 umol/dL.h; P < 0.05). With respect to fatty acids, the obese group showed higher myristic (1.1 ± 0.3 vs. 0.7 ± 0.3; P < 0.01) and palmitic acids (21.5 ± 2.8 vs. 19.6 ± 1.9; P < 0.05) in addition to lower linoleic acid (26.4 ± 3.3 vs. 29.9 ± 2.6; P < 0.01). Arachidonic acid correlated with CCE (r = 0.37; P < 0.05), myristic acid with LCAT (r = -0.37; P < 0.05), palmitioleic acid with CCE (r = -0.35; P < 0.05), linoleic acid with CCE (r = 0.37; P < 0.05), lauric acid with LCAT (r = 0.49; P < 0.05), myristic acid with LCAT (r = -0.37; P < 0.05) ecoisatrienoic acid with CCE (r = 0.40; P < 0.05) and lignoseric acid with LCAT (r = -0.5; P < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Children and adolescents with abdominal obesity presented impaired RCT, which was associated with modifications in proinflammatory fatty acids, such as palmitoleic and myristic, thus contributing to increased cardiovascular disease risk.

Impaired HDL-associated enzymes and proteins in children and adolescents with weight disorders and their association with novel cardiometabolic indexes.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Overweight/obesity (OW/OB) is associated with modifications in lipoprotein (Lp)-associated enzymes and proteins, such as cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), Lp-associated phospholipase A2 (LpPLA2) and paraoxonase (PON)1. No evidence is available regarding underweight (UW). The following indexes have been proposed to better assess atherogenic risk related to weight alterations: triglycerides-glucose index (TyG), visceral adiposity index (VAI) and height-corrected lipid accumulation product (HLAP). AIM: To analyze the presence of alterations in Lp-associated enzymes and proteins in children and adolescents with UW and OW/OB and their relation to novel cardiometabolic indexes. METHODS AND RESULTS: Thirty male children and adolescents with UW, 66 with normal weight (NW) and 30 with OW/OB were included. Anthropometric parameters, glucose, Lp profile and the activities of CETP, LpPLA2 and PON1 were evaluated. Body mass index (BMI)-z, TyG, VAI and HLAP were calculated. UW and NW showed lower CETP activity than OW/OB (Mean ± SD) (218 ± 38vs.224 ± 26vs.237 ± 26%/mL.h; p < 0.05). UW and OW/OB showed lower PON1 activity than NW (318 ± 170vs.409 ± 200vs.310 ± 184 nmol/mL.min; p < 0.05). TyG was higher in OW/OB than UW (p < 0.01), whilst both HLAP (p < 0.05) and VAI (p < 0.01) followed a linear trend across weight categories. After adjusting for age and BMI-z, TyG was an independent predictor of CETP (r2 = 0.25, ß = -0.22, p < 0.01) and LpPLA2 (r2 = 0.21,ß = -0.21,p < 0.05), while VAI (r2 = 0.21,ß = -0.32,p < 0.01) and HLAP (r2 = 0.20,ß = -0.31,p < 0.01) of CETP. CONCLUSIONS: Both UW and OW/OB showed impaired antioxidant PON1 activity. Moreover, TyG, VAI and HLAP were all capable of predicting alterations in crucial modulators of Lp metabolism and vascular inflammation in children and adolescents with varying degrees of alterations in body weight.