Genetic factors shaping the plasma lipidome and the relations to cardiometabolic risk in children and adolescents.

Background: Lipid species are emerging as biomarkers for cardiometabolic risk in both adults and children. The genetic regulation of lipid species and their impact on cardiometabolic risk during early life remain unexplored.

Methods: Using mass spectrometry-based lipidomics, we measured 227 plasma lipid species in 1149 children and adolescents (44.

Fecal microbial load is a major determinant of gut microbiome variation and a confounder for disease associations.

The microbiota in individual habitats differ in both relative composition and absolute abundance. While sequencing approaches determine the relative abundances of taxa and genes, they do not provide information on their absolute abundances. Here, we developed a machine-learning approach to predict fecal microbial loads (microbial cells per gram) solely from relative abundance data.

The interplay between birth weight and obesity in determining childhood and adolescent cardiometabolic risk.

Background: Birth weight (BW) is associated with risk of cardiometabolic disease (CMD) in adulthood, which may depend on the state of obesity, in particular if developed at a young age. We hypothesised that BW and a polygenic score (PGS) for BW were associated with cardiometabolic risk and related plasma protein levels in children and adolescents. We aimed to determine the modifying effect of childhood obesity on these associations.

Altered Glucagon and GLP-1 Responses to Oral Glucose in Children and Adolescents With Obesity and Insulin Resistance.

Context: Pediatric obesity is characterized by insulin resistance, yet it remains unclear whether insulin resistance contributes to abnormalities in glucagon and incretin secretion.

Objective: To examine whether fasting and stimulated glucagon, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) concentrations differ between children and adolescents with obesity and insulin resistance (OIR), obesity and normal insulin sensitivity (OIS), and controls with normal weight (NW).

Methods: 80 (34 boys) children and adolescents, aged 7-17 years with OIR (n = 22), OIS (n = 22), and NW (n = 36) underwent an oral glucose tolerance test with measurements of serum insulin, plasma glucose, glucagon, total GLP-1, and total GIP.

Possible prediction of obesity-related liver disease in children and adolescents using indices of body composition.

Background: Diagnosis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in children and adolescents currently requires advanced or invasive technologies.

Objectives: We aimed to develop a method to improve diagnosis, using body composition indices and liver biochemical markers.

Methods: To diagnose non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, 767 Danish children and adolescents underwent clinical examination, blood sampling, whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scanning and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy for liver fat quantification.

Early detection of childhood overweight and related complications in a Danish population-based cohort aged 2-8 years.

Background: Overweight in early childhood often tracks into adolescence and adulthood and early childhood is a critical period for developing sustained overweight. This study aims to investigate the early detection of childhood overweight (including obesity) and related cardiometabolic complications in a Danish population-based cohort of children aged 2.5-8 years in collaboration with primary care municipal dental clinics and public health nurses.

Longitudinal evaluation of an mHealth overweight and obesity management tool.

Background: Efficient obesity treatment protocols are lacking. This study reports treatment results from a web-based application, originally developed for use in an in-person healthcare setting providing health, overweight, and obesity management.

Methods: The web application DrHolmApp (WADHA) was evaluated in adult users two years after it was launched.

Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Is Associated With Systemic Inflammation in Pediatric Patients Treated With Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation.

Patients undergoing allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) are challenged with severe side effects, which are propagated by mucosal barrier disruption, and the related microbial translocation and systemic inflammation. Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), a well-known incretin hormone, possesses anti-inflammatory properties and promotes regeneration of damaged intestinal epithelium in animal studies. We hypothesized that the immense inter-individual variation in the degree of mucosal damage and systemic inflammation, seen after HSCT is influenced by endogenous GLP-1 and could be related to acute post-transplant complications.

Neonatal Anthropometrics and Obesity Treatment Response in Children and Adolescents.

Objective: To investigate the relationship between in utero growth conditions, as indicated by neonatal anthropometric measures, and childhood obesity treatment response, to examine the potential usefulness of neonatal anthropometrics as a potential childhood obesity treatment stratification tool.

Study Design: The study included 2474 children and adolescents with obesity (mean age, 11.2 years; range, 5.

Population-based pediatric reference values for serum parathyroid hormone, vitamin D, calcium, and phosphate in Danish/North-European white children and adolescents.

Introduction: Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and vitamin D are essential hormones in bone metabolism, especially during pediatric growth. Vitamin D insufficiency is often asymptomatic and is prevalent in high-latitude countries.

Methods: In a Danish population-based cohort of 2211 6-18-year-olds, sex- and age-specific pediatric reference values for fasting concentrations of intact serum PTH, vitamin D (25-hydroxycholecalciferol, 25-OH-D), total calcium, and phosphate were generated in accordance with Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) EP28-A3c guidelines.

A Previously Undescribed Highly Prevalent Phage Identified in a Danish Enteric Virome Catalog.

Gut viruses are important, yet often neglected, players in the complex human gut microbial ecosystem. Recently, the number of human gut virome studies has been increasing; however, we are still only scratching the surface of the immense viral diversity. In this study, 254 virus-enriched fecal metagenomes from 204 Danish subjects were used to generate the anish nteric irme atalog (DEVoC) containing 12,986 nonredundant viral scaffolds, of which the majority was previously undescribed, encoding 190,029 viral genes.

[Obesity in children and adolescents is a chronic disease].

WHO declared obesity a disease in 1979 and has named childhood obesity one of the most pervasive health challenges in the 21st century. The Danish Paediatric Society concordantly declares childhood obesity a chronic disease. Early treatment of obesity can prevent the disease from escalating into significant psychosocial and somatic complications arising in most organs with the potential to compromise normal growth and development.

Human Milk Oligosaccharides Modulate Fecal Microbiota and Are Safe for Use in Children With Overweight: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objectives: Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) impact the intestinal microbiota by increasing beneficial bacteria in infants and adults, and are safe and well tolerated in these age groups. Effects on intestinal microbiota, safety, and digestive tolerance in children have not been, however, assessed. The aims of this trial were to evaluate if HMOs are able to specifically modulate the intestinal microbiota in children, and to assess safety and digestive tolerance.

Obesity treatment effect in Danish children and adolescents carrying Melanocortin-4 Receptor mutations.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of Melanocortin-4 Receptor (MC4R) mutations in a cohort of children and adolescents with overweight or obesity and to determine whether treatment responses differed between carriers and noncarriers.

Methods: Using target region capture sequencing, an MC4R mutation screen was performed in 1261 Danish children and adolescents enrolled at a tertiary multidisciplinary childhood obesity treatment center. Measurements of anthropometrics, blood pressure, fasting blood biochemistry including lipid and hormone levels, and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry were performed at baseline and throughout treatment.

Reference values for fasting serum concentrations of thyroid-stimulating hormone and thyroid hormones in healthy Danish/North-European white children and adolescents.

Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid hormones influence the functions of many organ systems, as well as child development and growth. Several studies have reported an association between ethnicity and thyroid hormones. This study aims to explore pediatric serum concentrations of TSH, free triiodothyronine (fT3), and free thyroxine (fT4) and their relation to age and sex and subsequently to present pediatric reference intervals from healthy Danish/North-European white children.

Childhood obesity treatment; Effects on BMI SDS, body composition, and fasting plasma lipid concentrations.

Objective: The body mass index (BMI) standard deviation score (SDS) may not adequately reflect changes in fat mass during childhood obesity treatment. This study aimed to investigate associations between BMI SDS, body composition, and fasting plasma lipid concentrations at baseline and during childhood obesity treatment.

Methods: 876 children and adolescents (498 girls) with overweight/obesity, median age 11.

Estimates of insulin sensitivity and β-cell function in children and adolescents with and without components of the metabolic syndrome.

Introduction: The accumulation of components of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) is associated with a disturbed glucose metabolism in obese children.

Aim Of Study: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between MetS and estimates of insulin sensitivity and β-cell function obtained from oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)-derived indices in lean and obese children.

Material And Methods: A 2-hour OGTT was administered in 83 children aged 7-17 years.

Obesity is associated with vitamin D deficiency in Danish children and adolescents.

Background: Sufficient serum concentrations of vitamin D are required to maintain bone health during growth. The aims of this study were to determine whether vitamin D deficiency is more prevalent among children and adolescents with obesity compared to their normal weight peers and to identify clinical and biochemical variables associated with vitamin D deficiency.

Methods: One thousand four hundred and eighty-four children and adolescents with overweight/obesity and 2143 population-based controls were recruited from the Danish Childhood Obesity Biobank.

Subjective evaluation of psychosocial well-being in children and youths with overweight or obesity: the impact of multidisciplinary obesity treatment.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of a multidisciplinary childhood obesity treatment programme on subjective evaluations of psychosocial well-being and quality of life.

Methods: This longitudinal observational study included 1291 children, adolescents and young adults, 6-22 years of age, with overweight or obesity. At entry and after 2-82 months of obesity treatment, the patients evaluated the following domains of psychosocial well-being on a visual analogue scale: quality of life, mood, appetite, bullying, motivation for weight loss and body image satisfaction.

H MRS Assessment of Hepatic Fat Content: Comparison Between Normal- and Excess-weight Children and Adolescents.

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of the present study was to obtain a cutoff value of liver fat content for the diagnosis of hepatic steatosis by comparing magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy results in children and adolescents with normal and excess weight.

Materials And Methods: The study included 420 children and adolescents (91 normal-weight, 99 overweight, and 230 obese) 8-18 years of age. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy was performed with a 3T MR system using point resolved spectroscopy sequence with series echo times.

Dyslipidemia and reference values for fasting plasma lipid concentrations in Danish/North-European White children and adolescents.

Background: Dyslipidemia is reported in 27 - 43% of children and adolescents with overweight/obesity and tracks into adulthood, increasing the risk of cardiovascular morbidity. Cut-off values for fasting plasma lipid concentrations are typically set at fixed levels throughout childhood. The objective of this cross-sectional study was to generate fasting plasma lipid references for a Danish/North-European White population-based cohort of children and adolescents, and investigate the prevalence of dyslipidemia in this cohort as well as in a cohort with overweight/obesity.

Reference values for fasting serum resistin in healthy children and adolescents.

Background: Resistin is a hormone, mainly produced in macrophages and monocytes, believed to play an important role in the inflammatory response. It has been linked to several chronic diseases such as heart failure, inflammatory bowel disease, and insulin resistance. Pediatric reference levels are needed for the risk stratification and interpretation of individual serum resistin concentrations.

A genome-wide association study of thyroid stimulating hormone and free thyroxine in Danish children and adolescents.

Background: Hypothyroidism is associated with obesity, and thyroid hormones are involved in the regulation of body composition, including fat mass. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in adults have identified 19 and 6 loci associated with plasma concentrations of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxine (fT4), respectively.

Objective: This study aimed to identify and characterize genetic variants associated with circulating TSH and fT4 in Danish children and adolescents and to examine whether these variants associate with obesity.

Environmental spread of microbes impacts the development of metabolic phenotypes in mice transplanted with microbial communities from humans.

Microbiota transplantation to germ-free animals is a powerful method to study involvement of gut microbes in the aetiology of metabolic syndrome. Owing to large interpersonal variability in gut microbiota, studies with broad coverage of donors are needed to elucidate the establishment of human-derived microbiotas in mice, factors affecting this process and resulting impact on metabolic health. We thus transplanted faecal microbiotas from humans (16 obese and 16 controls) separately into 64 germ-free Swiss Webster mice caged in pairs within four isolators, with two isolators assigned to each phenotype, thereby allowing us to explore the extent of microbial spread between cages in a well-controlled environment.