1 Instituto de La Grasa-Csic. Universidad Pablo de Olavide. Seville, Spain. 2 Departamento de Enfermería. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad de Granada. Granada, Spain 3 Departamento de Enfermería. Facultad de Enfermería (Campus de Melilla). Universidad de Granada. Melilla, Spain. 4 HHUU Virgen del Rocío. Seville, Spain.
Obesity generates a low-grade chronic inflammation process and is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In contrast to obese adults, changes in the inflammatory profile in the postprandial period have hardly been studied in adolescents. This study was designed to compare the variations in the concentration of inflammatory adipokines in obese adults and adolescents in the postprandial state. For this purpose, 24 obese adults (12 obese and 12 normal-weight) and 24 adolescents (12 obese and 12 normalweight) were recruited for the study. After a fat challenge, blood samples were collected at 0, 2 and 4h postprandially. Glucose, triglyceride, and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were significantly higher in obese adults than their lean counterparts at baseline. Insulin concentrations were significantly higher in both obese adolescents and adults, and HDL-cholesterol concentrations were significantly lower in obese compared to normal-weight individuals. Leptin values tended to be significantly higher throughout the postprandial period in obese subjects when compared with their normal-weight counterparts. Ceruloplasmin concentrations during the postprandial phase were significantly higher in obese individuals. Adiponectin values did not change significantly in baseline and during the postprandial period in any of the groups studied. According to these findings we conclude that ceruloplasmin and leptin concentrations remain higher in obese adolescents and adults throughout the postprandial period, whereas adiponectin concentrations are not altered. Therefore, this study demonstrates that obese adolescents exhibit alterations in circulating levels of adipokines in the postprandial period similar to obese adults, suggesting that the risk to develop cardiovascular diseases could start to be relevant since early ages.