Endothelial dysfunction in children with low birth weight, born at term

The aim of our study was to assess whether endothelial function of the brachial artery is normal or impaired in children born at term with low birth weight (LBW) compared with their normal birth weight (NBW) peers, because there are still few data on this subject in children born at term with LBW. We compared brachial artery flow mediated dilatation (FMD) in children with LBW (n= 55, 30 male) and NBW (n= 45, 24 male) who were born at term. Age, gender, weight, height, waist and hip circumference, body mass index, body mass Z score, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, high density lipoproteincholesterol, calcium, C-reactive protein, hemoglobin, serum insulin concentration, homeostatic model assessment index, creatinine values, brachial artery baseline diameter and brachial artery post dilatation diameter were similar in both groups (all p values >0.05). Compared with the NBW group, the LBW group had lower FMD (%) (6.68 ± 2.1 vs. 7.8 ± 1.9, p = 0.004). Brachial artery FMD was negatively correlated with waist circumferences (r = 0.521, p < 0.001). A general linear analysis model, FMD as the dependent variable revealed significant effect of waist circumference (β ± SE:0.07±0.02, p<0.001) and LBW controlling for age (β ± SE: -0.028±0.01, p = 0.004). LBW closely affects to FMD. Therefore, the children with LBW born at term may be potentially at risk for early atherosclerosis compared with their peers.