Fetuin-A as an alternative marker for insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk in prepubertal children

Aim: fetuin-a plays a role in insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease. this study aims to determine the relationship between fetuin-a levels and cardiometabolic risk factors,as well as to investigate the effect of serum fetuin-a on insulin resistance indices to determine whether fetuin-a is an additional marker for insulin resistance in prepubertal children. methods: a total of 99 prepubertal korean children (59 males) aged from 6.0 to 10.0 years was included in this study. subjects were divided into underweight/normal-weight and overweight/obese groups. serum fetuin-a levels were measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and were natural logarithm (ln)-transformed. results: serum fetuin-a concentrations were significantly elevated in overweight/obese children as compared with underweight/normal-weight children (p= 0.029). ln serum fetuin-a was significantly positively correlated with body mass index (bmi) standard deviation scores (sdss) (r =0.239,p= 0.017),triglyceride levels (r =0.285,p= 0.004),ln insulin (r =0.377,p<0.001),systolic blood pressure (bp) (r =0.274,p=0.006),and diastolic bp (r =0.304,p=0.006) and was significantly inversely correlated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (hdl-c) levels (r =.0.236,p= 0.019). in univariate linear regression analysis,ln fetuin-a was significantly positively associated with the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (homa-ir) (r =0.356,p<0.001) and significantly inversely associated with the quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (quicki) (r = −0.309,p=0.002). following adjustment for age,gender,bmi,and lipid profiles in multivariate linear regression analysis,fetuin-a was significantly positively associated with homa-ir (p=0.048) and marginally inversely associated with quicki (p=0.054). conclusions: our results suggest that fetuin-a can be an alternative marker for insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk in prepubertal children. © 2017 japan atherosclerosis society.