Gülin Karacan KÜÇÜKALİ, Semra ÇETİNKAYA, Erdal KURNAZ, Elvan BAYRAMOĞLU, Şervan ÖZALKAK, Gülşah DEMİRCİ, Hasan Serdar ÖZTÜRK, Şenay Savaş ERDEVE, Zehra AYCAN
Türkiye Çocuk Hastalıkları Dergisi - 2026;20(4):290-294
Objective: Childhood obesity is a growing global health problem linked to chronic inflammation and metabolic complications, including dyslipidemia, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and hypertension. Fetuin-A, a hepatokine involved in insulin signaling and inflammation, has been studied in adults, but its role in pediatric obesity is unclear. This study evaluated fetuin-A levels in obese adolescents and their association with anthropometric and metabolic parameters. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 40 obese adolescents (BMI > 95th percentile) and 30 healthy controls (BMI between the 15th and 85th percentiles) who had no additional systemic diseases and were not receiving any medication. Anthropometric measurements and fasting glucose, insulin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, and fetuin-A were assessed. The presence of dyslipidemia, hepatic steatosis, and hypertension was evaluated. Results: Hs-CRP levels were significantly higher in obese patients than in controls (p=0.015) However, fetuin-A levels did not differ significantly between the groups. Fetuin-A showed no correlation with insulin resistance, lipid parameters, hepatic steatosis, or hypertension. Conclusion: Obesity-related complications (insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, fatty liver, and hypertension) were observed in more than half of our group. Although hs-CRP levels of obese cases were high, fetuin-A concentrations were observed to be similar in all cases and in subgroup analyzes. It may be due to factors affecting fetuin-A levels or its posttranslational modification. Further large-scale longitudinal studies are required to elucidate its contribution to metabolic inflammation in children.
