Estimated glomerular filtration rate and blood pressure in a sample of obese Egyptian adolescents

Background/aim Obesity is a major risk factor for some comorbid conditions. Our goal was to study the relationship between obesity and kidney function in adolescents using estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) as well as to study blood pressure (BP) in obese adolescents. Patients and methods This study included 45 male and female adolescents who visited the Child Health Clinic at the NRC, Egypt, with BMI more than or equal to 85th centile and aged 10–18 years old, and 45 age-matched and sex-matched healthy controls with BMI less than 85th centile. Serum creatinine as determined by the spectrophotometric method, the estimated glomerular filtration calculated using the revised Schwartz formula, and BP were compared between the studied groups. Results The results indicated that serum creatinine and BP were significantly higher in obese patients than healthy control group ( P <0.05). In contrast, the eGFR was lower in the obese patients than in the control group ( P <0.05). In obese adolescents, there were negative correlations between eGFR and systolic BP, diastolic BP, creatinine, and BMI ( P ≤0.05). In addition, there were positive correlations between BMI and each of systolic and diastolic BP ( P <0.01). Conclusions Obese adolescents exhibited lower eGFR estimations, slightly increased serum creatinine, and elevated BP results, being compatible with some degree of renal impairment. Therefore, BP and renal function should be routinely checked in obese adolescents.