Background: The combined effect of uric acid, gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) and cardiovascular risk factors clustering in the youth remains under-explored.
Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the association between uric acid, GGT, obesity and the individual components of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents.
Methods: We performed a cross-sectional observational study of 2067 children and adolescents (875 boys and 1192 girls) aged 6-20 years who were healthy volunteers and were recruited from primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong between 2007 and 2008. Subjects were divided into two strata (75th percentile as cut-off) for comparison between odds of cardiovascular risk factors.
Results: After adjustment by multivariable logistic regression, subjects in upper stratum, i.e., >75th percentile, of either serum uric acid or GGT levels were associated with obesity, low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) level and high blood pressure (adjusted odds ratios [AOR] ranged from 1.63 to 5.82, all P < 0.005) compared with those in the lower stratum. There were combined effect for upper stratum of both uric acid and GGT in the association with obesity, low HDL-C and high blood pressure (AOR ranged from 2.60 to 10.69, all P < 0.05) after adjustment for age, sex and body mass index z-score (except for obesity status) as well as body height (for high blood pressure).
Conclusion: Uric acid and GGT have combined effect in association with obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors in children and adolescents.
Keywords: Cardiovascular risk factors; gamma-glutamyltransferase; obesity; uric acid.
© 2012 The Authors. Pediatric Obesity © 2012 International Association for the Study of Obesity.