Assessment of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Children With Down Syndrome With Normal Weight: A Comparative Study Against a Non-Down Syndrome Cohort

Background Down syndrome (DS) stands as the most frequent chromosomal abnormality leading to intellectual disability. A prevalence rate of 6.1-13.1 per 10 000 births has been estimated. Although life expectancy has been increasing from 25 years in 1983 to 60 years in 2020 in this population, their quality may be impaired by the development of diseases. However, it has also opened the possibility of carrying out a significant number of cardiovascular risk studies in DS. This includes comparisons of biochemical cardiometabolic risk factors, including total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), between normal-weight children with DS and age- and gender-matched children without DS. Methods In this cross-sectional study, with parental consent, 25 children with DS and 30 age-matched controls (8-12 years old) participated. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from anthropometric assessments, while glucose and lipid profiles were measured from the obtained blood samples. Results According to the World Health Organization BMI criteria, all individuals from both groups had normal weight. The DS group exhibited higher TC (179.4 +/- 50.4 mg/dL vs. 120.7 +/- 31.6 mg/dL, p < 0.000), TG (125.2 +/- 42.5 mg/dL vs. 86.5 +/- 54.1 mg/dL, p < 0.005) and LDL-C (108.1 +/- 40.8 mg/dL vs. 120.8 +/- 53.5 mg/dL, p = 0.373), while HDL-C was lower (46.3 +/- 12.3 mg/dL vs. 54.7 +/- 11.8 mg/dL, p = 0.008) compared with the control group. Conclusion The present study suggests that children with DS have a higher prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors compared with the general population, regardless of weight, highlighting the importance of studying dyslipidaemias in the DS population independently of body weight.