Correlation between Epicardial Fat Thickness and Insulin Resistance Among Obese Adolescents

Abstract

Obesity in adolescents is a major health problem associated with short-term and long-term health-related consequences. Mortality and morbidity due to insulin resistance among patients with obesity have widely been reported in developed countries. Epicardial fat thickness is a new possible parameter to predict insulin resistance in children and adolescents with obesity.This study aims to determine the association between epicardial fat thickness and insulin resistance in obese adolescents. Methods and Results: A cross sectional analytical study was performed at Prof. Dr. R. D. Kandou General Hospital, Manado from August 2018 to October 2018. Subjects were adolescents aged 15-18 years with body mass index (BMI) >95th percentile. Epicardial fat thickness was measured by echocardiography and insulin resistance was measured using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) method. Association between epicardial fat thickness and insulin resistance was analysed by Pearson correlation coefficient. The study included a total of 40 obese adolescents, consisting of 15 male and 25 female adolescents with the lowest BMI of 30.00 kg/m 2 and the highest of 32.90 kg/m 2 , an average BMI of 30.78 kg/m 2 and the median BMI of 30.40 kg/m 2 (SD. 7706). Simple linear regression analysis for the investigation of the correlation between epicardial fat thickness and insulin resistance among obese adolescents demonstrated a very strong and significant relationship between epicardial fat thickness and insulin resistance indicated by HOMA-IR with an r-value = 0.906 and p <0.0001. Conclusion: There was a strong correlation between epicardial fat thickness and insulin resistance among adolescents with obesity.

Part of CIRS Nexus · Curated by Lauren Lowenstein, The Biotoxin Lady