Adiponectin, ALT and family history as critical markers for the development of type 2 diabetes in obese Japanese children

AIMS/INTRODUCTION: An association between the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) and that of metabolic syndrome (MS) in obese children has been suggested. We clarified the critical markers for the development of T2D in obese Japanese children. METHODS: One hundred and seven obese children who visited our outpatient clinic were enrolled in this study. The obese subjects were divided into 3 groups: Group A, T2D (n = 19); Group B, MS but not T2D (n = 19); and Group C: non‐T2D, non‐MS (n = 69). In all the subjects, a biochemical examination was performed and the serum adiponectin and leptin levels were measured. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were measured using computed tomography images. RESULTS: Group A tended to have higher VAT values and VAT/SAT ratios and lower leptin and adiponectin levels, compared with Groups B and C. In Group A, the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level was significantly higher and the aspartate aminotransferase (AST)/ALT ratio was significantly lower than in Group C. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that the optimal cut‐off point for adiponectin was 6.4 μg/mL (AUC = 0.859). The cut‐off points for ALT, the AST/ALT ratio and VAT were 35 IU/L (AUC = 0.821), 0.85 (AUC = 0.794) and 78 cm(2) (AUC = 0.713), respectively. Group A had a significantly higher frequency of a family history of T2D than Group B. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed that the adiponectin level, ALT level, AST/ALT ratio, VAT value and a family history of T2D may be critical characteristic markers for T2D among obese Japanese children.