Association between adiposity indicators, metabolic parameters and inflammatory markers in a sample of female adolescents

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between total and abdominal adiposity with metabolic parameters and inflammatory markers, in female adolescents. Subjects and methods: The sample consisted of 53 adolescents aged 13 to 17 years from a public school in Curitiba, Brazil. The adiposity indicators studied were body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), trunk fat mass (TKFM), total fat mass (TFM) and body fat percentage (BF%) measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. The metabolic and inflammatory parameters studied were systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), glucose, insulin, homeostasis model assessment index for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), lipids, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha), leptin, adiponectin and resistin. Results: Eighty percent of WC variation, 87% of TKFM and TFM, and 73% of BF% were predicted by BMI variation. There was a significant positive correlation between all indicators of adiposity with SBP, DBP, insulin, HOMA-IR, CRP and leptin. Triglycerides were positively correlated with BMI and WC, and adiponectin correlated negatively with BMI. TNF-alpha, IL-6, glucose, total cholesterol, and high-and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol did not correlate to the studied variables. Conclusion: BMI showed a significant association with most of the parameters studied, and WC was slightly better than BMI to predict insulin resistance in this specific population.