The association of serum lipocalin-2 levels with metabolic and clinical parameters in obese children: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate the association between serum lipocalin-2 level and clinical and metabolic parameters in obese children. METHODS: The study included obese children with a body mass index (BMI) >95th percentile who presented to Kecioren Teaching and Research Hospital with the complaint of weight gain and healthy children with a BMI <85th percentile. The height and weight of the patients were measured for compartment of anthropometric data. Fasting blood glucose, insulin, lipid profile, and serum lipocalin-2 level were measured to evaluate the laboratory parameters. RESULTS: The study included 33 obese and 34 healthy nonobese children. Comparison of data on the obese subjects with those of the healthy subjects shows differences in BMI, BMI-SDS, triglyceride, insulin, and homeostasis model assessment index-insulin resistance levels between the two groups were statistically significant (p < 0.05), whereas serum lipocalin-2 was not statistically significant (p >0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in serum lipocalin-2 levels when obese and control groups were reclassified as prepubertal and pubertal ( p >0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In this study, we did not find any relationships among serum lipocalin-2 level, anthropometric parameters, or metabolic parameters. According to the results of this study, we do not suggest routine investigation of serum lipocalin-2 level in obese subjects for risk stratification of the obesity-related complications.