فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

Background: Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is a member of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily. Reduced OPG levels are related to obesity,insulin resistance, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship between OPG levels, obesity, insulin resistance, and NAFLD inpediatric patients.Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional, controlled study that was conducted in the department of pediatrics at Bagcilartraining and research hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, between April and August 2015. The study was performed on 107 children withobesity and 37 controls aged 5 - 17 years. In the obese subset, 62 patients had NAFLD. Homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance(HOMA-IR) was used to calculate insulin resistance. Insulin resistance was defined as a HOMA-IR value greater than 2.5. PlasmaOPG levels were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. NAFLD was diagnosed by hepatic ultrasound.Results: The mean age was 11.25  3.38 years in the patient group and 10.41  3.15 years in the control group. The OPG level in theobese group with the mean of 55.20  24.55 pg/mL (median = 48.81 pg/mL) was significantly lower than that in the control groupwith the mean of 70.78  33.41 pg/mL (median = 64.57 pg/mL) (P = 0.0001). The optimal cut-off point (sensitivity, specificity) ofthe OPG level for the diagnosis of obesity was  46, 19 pg/mL. According to logistic regression analysis, fasting insulin (P = 0.036)and OPG (P = 0.01) levels were most affected by obesity. In the obese patients, who had HOMA-IR < 2.5, the mean level of OPG was58.91  6.88729 pg/mL (median = 49.55). In the obese patients, who had HOMA-IR  2.5, the mean level of OPG was 54.19  22.21pg/mL (median = 48.47). No significant correlations were found between OPG and HOMA-IR (P = 0.791). No statistically significantdifference was observed in the mean OPG between patients with hepatosteatosis (mean = 54.5525.01 pg/mL) (median = 49.46) andthose without the disease (56.3024.02 pg/mL) (mean = 48.34) (P = 0.089).Conclusions: We confirmed that serum OPG concentrations reduce in obese children. However, no correlation was identified betweenOPG and insulin resistance. OPG levels are not meaningful in the diagnosis of NAFLD in children with obesity.