Lipopolysaccharide Binding Protein and Cardiovascular Changes in Obese Children

Objective: Despite the growing evidence that lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP) plays a major role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) pathophysiology and obesity, data regarding this association in children are rare. Therefore, our objectives were to assess whether there was a difference between overweight/obese and normal-weight children in plasma LBP levels and to assess the cardiovascular changes in both groups. Methods: In an observational, case-control study, a total of 30 children as obese and overweight children. Obese children with body mass index (BMI) above 95th percentile, and overweight children with BMI between 85th and 95th percentile were recruited if they aged between 8-16 years old. A similar number of matched controls were included. Serum LBP was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technique. Results: With regard to serum LBP, the mean LBP was significantly higher in obese children than in the control group (52.74 ± 17.25 versus 12.34 ± 2.67 μg/mL, respectively; p 0.001). The ROC curve showed that the serum LBP, at a cutoff value of >19 μg/mL, was a significant discriminator of obesity with a sensitivity of 96.67% and specificity of 100%. The regression analysis showed that BMI was an independent predictor of serum LBP (B coefficient = 0.684; p = 0.024). The serum LBP correlated significantly with age (r = 0.58; p = 0.001), BMI (r = 0.834; p = 0.001), and LV longitudinal strain (r = 0.362; p = 0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, our findings showed that obesity was associated with a worse lipid profile and cardiovascular function. LBP is a promising predictor of obesity in children.