Obesity-Related Hormone is Higher in Children with Down Syndrome
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Children with
Down syndrome are more likely than their unaffected siblings to
have higher levels of a hormone associated with obesity, according
to pediatric researchers. The hormone, leptin, may contribute to
the known higher risk of obesity among children and adults with
Down syndrome.
A research team from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and
the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine published their
study online today in the Journal of Pediatrics.
The researchers studied 35 children with Down syndrome and 33 of
their siblings. All of the children were between the ages of four
and 10, and were from the Philadelphia area. The researchers
intentionally did not include severely obese children in the study,
in order to focus on risk factors for obesity before obesity
occurred.
The children with Down syndrome had significantly higher body
mass index, a higher percentage of body fat, and higher levels of
leptin compared to their siblings. The higher leptin levels
persisted even when the researchers adjusted for the effect of
percentages of body fat, suggesting that differences in body
composition did not account for the difference in leptin
levels.
"The normal role of leptin is to suppress appetite and regulate
body weight," said senior author Nicolas Stettler, M.D., MSCE, a
pediatric nutrition specialist at The Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia. "In general, obese people have higher levels of
leptin, which suggests that they have some leptin resistance--their
bodies do not respond to the hormone properly. Because Down
syndrome is a chromosome disorder, children with Down syndrome may
have a genetic predisposition to more severe leptin
resistance."
Sheela N. Magge, M.D., M.S.C.E., a pediatric endocrinologist at
Children's Hospital, the first author of the study, stressed that
more research remains to be done on this question, as the reasons
are yet uncertain why patients with Down syndrome are at higher
risk of obesity. "Although the study had an advantage in including
siblings as a control group, because this decreases the influence
of different environments on children with or without Down
syndrome, the sample size was limited, so larger studies are
necessary. However, our findings may point to a useful approach to
understanding why obesity often occurs in Down syndrome."
The National Institutes of Health, the Penn-Cheyney Export
Center, the National Down Syndrome Society, the Juvenile Diabetes
Research Foundation, and the Lawson Wilkins Pediatric Endocrinology
Society all provided support for this study. Dr. Stettler and Dr.
Magge's co-authors were Virginia A. Stallings, M.D., and Kristen
O'Neill, M.S., of Children's Hospital; and Justine Shults, Ph.D.,
of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Stettler,
Magge, and Stallings also have appointments at the Penn School of
Medicine.
About The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia: The Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia was founded in 1855 as the nation's first
pediatric hospital. Through its long-standing commitment to
providing exceptional patient care, training new generations of
pediatric healthcare professionals and pioneering major research
initiatives, Children's Hospital has fostered many discoveries that
have benefited children worldwide. Its pediatric research program
is among the largest in the country, ranking third in National
Institutes of Health funding. In addition, its unique
family-centered care and public service programs have brought the
430-bed hospital recognition as a leading advocate for children and
adolescents. For more information, visit http://www.chop.edu/.
Contact: Joey Marie McCool Phone: (267) 426-6070 McCool@email.chop.edu
Source: The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
CONTACT: Joey Marie McCool of Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia,
+1-267-426-6070, McCool@email.chop.edu
Web Site: http://www.chop.edu/
Posted: October 2007
