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  • Pediatric Original Article
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Perirenal fat is related to carotid intima-media thickness in children

International Journal of Obesity volume 42, pages 641–647 (2018)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Background/Objectives:

It is well known that increased abdominal fat is associated with cardiovascular (CV) risk. Perirenal fat has been recently associated with CV risk in adults. However, studies with children are lacking. We investigated the relationship of perirenal fat and other abdominal fat depots (including preperitoneal, intra-abdominal and subcutaneous fat) with carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT—a surrogate marker of CV risk) in prepubertal children, so as to identify novel markers that can be easily assessed and used in the early prevention of cardiovascular disease.

Subjects/Methods:

Subjects were 702 asymptomatic prepubertal Caucasian children (418 lean, 142 overweight and 142 obese) who were recruited in a primary care setting. Ultrasound measurements (perirenal, preperitoneal, intra-abdominal and subcutaneous fat and cIMT), clinical (body mass index (BMI) and systolic blood pressure) and metabolic parameters (insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), high molecular weight (HMW) adiponectin and serum lipids) were assessed.

Results:

Perirenal fat was associated with diverse metabolic and CV risk factors in all the studied subjects. However, in overweight and obese children, perirenal fat was mostly associated with cIMT (P<0.001) and was the only fat depot that showed independent associations with cIMT in multivariate analyses (overweight chidren: β=0.250, P=0.003, r2=12.8%; obese children: β=0.254, P=0.002, r2=15.5%) after adjusting for BMI, gender, age and metabolic parameters. Perirenal fat was also the only fat depot that showed independent associations with HMW-adiponectin in obese children (β=−0.263, P=0.006, r2=22.8%).

Conclusions:

Perirenal fat is the main abdominal fat depot associated with cIMT, especially in overweight and obese children, and may thus represent a helpful parameter for assessing CV risk in the pediatric population.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to all the children and parents who took part in the study. JB is an investigator of the Miguel Servet Fund from Carlos III National Institute of Health, Spain (MS12/03239). SX-T is an investigator of the Sara Borrell Fund from Carlos III National Institute of Health, Spain (CD15-00162). FdZ is a Senior Investigator of the Clinical Research Fund of the Leuven University Hospital, Belgium. LI is a Clinical Investigator of CIBERDEM (Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders), from Carlos III National Institute of Health, Spain. AL-B is an Investigator of the I3 Fund for Scientific Research (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, Spain). The study was supported by grants from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain (MS12/03239 and PI14/01625 to JB and PI16/01335 to A.L-B), projects co-funded by FEDER (Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional).

Author contributions

JB contributed to the design and acquisition of data and drafted the manuscript; J-MM-C contributed to data acquisition and helped writing the first version of the manuscript; AP-P contributed to data acquisition and reviewed the manuscript; GC-B contributed to data acquisition and reviewed the manuscript; SX-T contributed to data acquisition and reviewed the manuscript; EL-M contributed to data acquisition and reviewed the manuscript; MF-A contributed to data acquisition and reviewed the manuscript; ER-P contributed to data acquisition and reviewed the manuscript; IO contributed to data acquisition and to discussion of the paper; FdZ contributed to the interpretation of data and reviewed the manuscript; LI contributed to the interpretation of data and reviewed the manuscript; AL-B contributed to conception and interpretation of data and reviewed the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatrics Research Group, Girona Institute for Biomedical Research, Girona, Spain

    J Bassols, J-M Martínez-Calcerrada, A Prats-Puig, G Carreras-Badosa, S Xargay-Torrent, E Lizarraga-Mollinedo & A López-Bermejo

  2. Pediatrics, Dr JosepTrueta Hospital, Girona, Spain

    J Bassols, G Carreras-Badosa, S Xargay-Torrent, E Lizarraga-Mollinedo, M Feliu-Alsina & A López-Bermejo

  3. Institute of Legal Medicine of Catalonia, Girona, Spain

    J-M Martínez-Calcerrada

  4. Department of Physical Therapy, EUSES University School, University of Girona, Girona, Spain

    A Prats-Puig

  5. Pediatrics, Salut Empordà Foundation, Figueres, Spain

    E Riera-Pérez & I Osiniri

  6. Department of Development and Regeneration, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    F de Zegher

  7. Endocrinology, Pediatric Research Institute, Sant Joan de Déu Children’s Hospital, Esplugues, Barcelona

    L Ibáñez

  8. CIBERDEM (Spanish Biomedical Research Centre in Diabetes and Associated Metabolic Disorders), ISCIII, Madrid, Spain

    L Ibáñez

  9. Department of Medical Sciences, TransLab Research Group, Faculty of Medicine (A.L-B), University of Girona, Girona, Spain

    A López-Bermejo

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Correspondence to J Bassols.

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Bassols, J., Martínez-Calcerrada, JM., Prats-Puig, A. et al. Perirenal fat is related to carotid intima-media thickness in children. Int J Obes 42, 641–647 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2017.236

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