IL-10/STAT3 is reduced in childhood obesity with hypertriglyceridemia and is related to triglyceride level in diet-induced obese rats

BACKGROUND: The prevalence of childhood obesity and obesity-related metabolic disorder such as dyslipidemia has sharply increased in the past few decades. Chronic low-grade inflammation is associated with the development of comorbidities and poor prognosis in obesity. This study aims to evaluate interleukin-10 (IL-10) in childhood obesity with hypertriglyceridemia. METHOD: We evaluated IL-10 and signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) mRNA expression in adipose tissue (AT) as well as serum IL-10 in 62 children of 3 groups and in high-fat diet (HFD) induced obese rat. Expression of IL-10 and STAT3 protein in AT of diet-induced obese rats were examined over feed period. RESULTS: Adipose IL-10 and STAT3 mRNA expression and serum IL-10 reduced in obese children with hypertriglyceridemia and in HFD obese rats. The protein expression of IL-10 and STAT3 decreased in AT of obese rats compared with the control rats at end time. Expression of IL-10 mRNA was negatively correlated to TG and LDL-C levels, and positively correlated to HDL-C, adiponectin and serum IL-10 levels. CONCLUSIONS: IL-10 expression and its downstream JAK-STAT pathway are down-regulated in obese children with hypertriglyceridemia and in HFD obese rats. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12902-018-0265-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.