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International Journal of Endocrinology
Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 578693, 6 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/578693
Elevated Serum Gamma-Glutamyltransferase Is a Strong Marker of Insulin Resistance in Obese Children
1Department of Family Medicine, Inje University, College of Medicine, Sanggyepaik Hospital, Nowon-Gu, Seoul 139-707, Republic of Korea
2Department of Family Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, 108 Pyongdong, Jongro-Gu, Seoul 110-746, Republic of Korea
3Department of Occupational Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, 108 Pyongdong, Jongro-Gu, Seoul 110-746, Republic of Korea
4Health Screening Center, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University, School of Medicine, Seoul 110-746, Republic of Korea
Received 22 October 2012; Revised 29 January 2013; Accepted 15 February 2013
Academic Editor: Barry Posner
Copyright © 2013 Seon Yeong Lee et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Elevated levels of serum gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) levels have been found to predict the development of type 2 diabetes in adults. The role of GGT in insulin resistance (IR) among children is largely unknown. We investigated whether GGT among hepatic enzymes is independently associated with IR in obese Korean children. A total of 1308 overweight (above the 85th BMI percentile of Korean reference) boys () and girls (), aged 9–15 years, were studied. Measures acquired included weight, height, percent body fat (BF%), waist circumference, blood pressure, blood glucose and insulin, C-reactive protein, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-Cholesterol, GGT, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). IR was calculated using the homeostasis model assessment (HOMA-IR). Serum GGT and ALT, but not AST, were positively correlated with HOMA-IR in boys ( for GGT; , for ALT; ) and girls ( for GGT; , for ALT; ). In multiple regression analysis for HOMA-IR as dependent variable, GGT (; in boys, ; in girls) and ALT (; in boys, ; in girls) emerged as determinants of HOMA-IR after adjusting age, BMI, tanner stage, and triglycerides. Serum GGT level is a strong marker of IR in obese Korean children.