Evaluation of oxidant-antioxidant status in obese children and adolescents

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the association between endogenous antioxidants and oxidative stress and selected risk factors in obese children without co-morbidities. Methodology: A total of 121 school children (58 obese and 63 normal weight), aged between 10 and 15 years old were recruited from public schools in Amman, Jordan. Levels of the antioxidant enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration was used as a biomarker for oxidative stress were measured. Fasting Blood Glucose (FBG) and lipids levels were determined in serum and anthropometric parameters were also measured. Results: The SOD activity was significantly higher in obese children relative to normal weight (190.5±39.5 and 144.1±44.8, respectively; p<0.05) and was correlated with BMI (r = 0.456). However, GPx and CAT activities were not affected by an increase in BMI (p>0.05). Meanwhile, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c) levels were significantly correlated with SOD activity (r = 0.330). The MDA levels were significantly higher in obese children relative to normal weight children (4.62±1.15 vs 3.58±0.64, respectively; p<0.001) and was correlated with BMI (r = 0.531), triglycerides (r = 0.315), LDL-c (r = 0.378) and SOD activity (r = 0.328) (p<0.05). Both MDA levels and SOD activity were correlated with waist circumference (r = 0.453 and r = 0.322, respectively; p<0.05) and hip circumference (r = 0.487 and r = 0.369, respectively; p<0.05). Conclusion: This study concluded that an increase in oxidative stress in obese Jordanian school children is associated with increased MDA levels which reflects an imbalance between reactive oxygen species production and antioxidant defense responses as evidenced by the increased activity of the early antioxidant response enzyme SOD that was associated with increased BMI.