The relation of serum nesfatin-1 level with metabolic and clinical parameters in obese and healthy children

Background Nesfatin-1, a recently discovered anorexigenic neuropeptide, is expressed in several tissues including pancreatic islet cells and central nervous system. This peptide seems to play an important role in hypothalamic pathways regulating food intake and energy homeostasis. Objective We aimed to investigate the relation of serum nesfatin-1 level with metabolic and anthropometric parameters in obese children. Methods The study included obese children with a body mass index (BMI) above the 95th percentile and healthy children with a BMI below the 85th percentile. The healthy and obese subjects had similar age and gender distribution. Fasting serum glucose, insulin, lipid profile, and nesfatin-1 levels were measured to evaluate metabolic parameters. Results Obese group (n=37) had significantly higher BMI, BMI-SDS (standard deviation score of BMI), triglyceride, insulin, and insulin resistance index by the homeostasis model assessment, systolic and diastolic blood pressure values compared with the control group (n=31) (p<0.05). Serum nesfatin-1 level of the obese subjects was significantly lower than that of the control subjects (p=0.001). No statistically significant difference was found when nesfatin-1 levels were compared among obese patients regarding the presence of insulin resistance (p=0.202). In the obese group, nesfatin-1 level was negatively correlated with BMI-SDS, but not with insulin resistance index (p=0.02 and p=0.361, respectively). Conclusions This is the first study to evaluate nesfatin-1 levels in relation with anthropometric and metabolic parameters in obese patients who had significantly lower nesfatin-1 levels. Our results underline that nesfatin-1 may play an important role in regulation of food intake in obese individuals.