Antioxidants and Oxidative Stress in Children: Influence of Puberty and Metabolically Unhealthy Status
Azahara I. Rupérez,
María D. Mesa,
Augusto Anguita-Ruiz,
Esther M. González-Gil,
Rocío Vázquez-Cobela,
Luis A. Moreno,
Ángel Gil,
Mercedes Gil-Campos,
Rosaura Leis,
Gloria Bueno,
Concepción M. Aguilera
Affiliations
Azahara I. Rupérez
GENUD Research Group, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IIS) Aragón, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
María D. Mesa
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology “José Mataix”, Center of Biomedical Research, University of Granada, Armilla, 18016 Granada, Spain
Augusto Anguita-Ruiz
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology “José Mataix”, Center of Biomedical Research, University of Granada, Armilla, 18016 Granada, Spain
Esther M. González-Gil
GENUD Research Group, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IIS) Aragón, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Rocío Vázquez-Cobela
CIBEROBN, (Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Network) Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Luis A. Moreno
GENUD Research Group, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IIS) Aragón, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Ángel Gil
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology “José Mataix”, Center of Biomedical Research, University of Granada, Armilla, 18016 Granada, Spain
Mercedes Gil-Campos
CIBEROBN, (Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Network) Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Rosaura Leis
CIBEROBN, (Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition Network) Institute of Health Carlos III (ISCIII), 28029 Madrid, Spain
Gloria Bueno
GENUD Research Group, Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón (IA2), Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria (IIS) Aragón, University of Zaragoza, 50013 Zaragoza, Spain
Concepción M. Aguilera
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology II, Institute of Nutrition and Food Technology “José Mataix”, Center of Biomedical Research, University of Granada, Armilla, 18016 Granada, Spain
Oxidative stress could help explain the relationship between childhood obesity and a metabolically unhealthy (MU) status. Moreover, puberty could also influence this relationship, since it entails physiological cardiometabolic changes. We aimed to evaluate plasma antioxidants and oxidative stress biomarkers in MU and metabolically healthy (MH) prepubertal and pubertal children and their associations with pro-inflammatory and endothelial damage biomarkers, taking puberty into account. A total of 1444 Spanish children aged 3–17 years (48.9% males, 66% prepubertal, 47.1% with obesity) were recruited. Blood pressure, anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured, and children were categorized as having a MU or MH status according to risk factors. Retinol, carotenes, tocopherols, total antioxidant capacity (TAC), oxidized low-density lipoprotein and selected pro-inflammatory and endothelial damage biomarkers were analyzed. General linear models adjusted for age, sex, recruitment center and body mass index, partial correlations and stepwise linear regressions were performed. Lower carotenes and tocopherols levels were found in MU than in MH children. Plasma TAC was lower in prepubertal and higher in pubertal children with obesity compared to normal-weight children. Antioxidants and oxidative stress biomarkers showed novel associations with several pro-inflammatory and endothelial damage biomarkers, with pubertal differences, supporting the importance of considering both the antioxidant and oxidative stress status and puberty in the prevention of metabolic diseases in childhood.
