Fax +41 61 306 12 34 E-Mail karger@karger.ch www.karger.com Original Paper Horm Res Paediatr 2012;78:288–296 DOI: 10.1159/000345546 Inflammatory Markers and Clustered Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in Danish Adolescents Anna Bugge a Bianca El-Naaman a Robert G. McMurray e Karsten Froberg a Claus Henrik Nielsen b Klaus Müller b, c Lars Bo Andersen a, d a Centre of Research in Childhood Health, Institute of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, b Department of Infectious Diseases and Rheumatology, Institute for Inflammation Research, and c Pediatric Clinic, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark; d Department of Sports Medicine, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway; e Department of Exercise and Sport Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, N.C., USA score, adiponectin and IL-6 and positively related to systolic blood pressure. The sum of four skinfolds was inversely re- lated to adiponectin and positively correlated to body mass index, systolic blood pressure, homeostasis model assess- ment, clustered z-score and CRP. Conclusion: In adolescents, CVD risk was associated with alternations in adiponectin, TNF , CRP and IL-6, and related to both VO 2peak and fatness. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel Background Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the main causes of global mortality and disease-related morbidity [1, 2]. CVD is related to several well-known risk factors, including central obesity, insulin resistance, hyperten- sion and dyslipidemia – all components in the metabolic syndrome (MetS) [3, 4]. The underlying mechanisms linking these risk factors to each other and to CVD have been the subject of extensive investigation in recent decades [5]. One of the proposed hypotheses is that the excess visceral adipose tissue acts as a secretory gland releasing an excessive amount of adipokines, including cytokines and hormones. This creates a state of low-grade Key Words Cytokines  C-reactive protein  Adiponectin  Cardiorespiratory fitness  Fatness Abstract Aims: To evaluate the associations between inflammatory markers and clustering of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, and to examine how inflammatory markers and CVD risk are related to fatness and cardiorespiratory fitness (VO 2peak ) in adolescents. Methods: Body mass and height, skinfolds and blood pressure of 413 adolescents (mean age 13.4 8 0.3 years) were measured. Circulating fasting levels of glucose, insulin, lipids, adiponectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF) , soluble TNF receptor-1 (sTNFR1), interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1 receptor antagonist (IL- 1Ra) were measured. VO 2peak was measured in progressive tests to exhaustion. CVD risk was expressed as a clustered z- score, summing standardized values of individual risk fac- tors. Results: The clustered z-score was negatively associat- ed with adiponectin and positively associated with CRP, IL-6 and TNF  (all p values !0.05). The associations with adipo- nectin, CRP and IL-6 were stronger for the fattest adoles- cents. VO 2peak was negatively correlated with clustered z- Received: April 29, 2012 Accepted: October 31, 2012 Published online: December 7, 2012 HORMONE RESEARCH IN PÆDIATRICS Anna Bugge Centre of Research in Childhood Health Institute of Sport Science and Clinical Biomechanics, University of Southern Denmark Campusvej 55, DK–5230 Odense M (Denmark) E-Mail anbugge  @  health.sdu.dk © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel 1663–2818/12/0786–0288$38.00/0 Accessible online at: www.karger.com/hrp Downloaded by: Syddansk Universitetsbibliotek 130.225.157.199 - 9/12/2013 12:37:28 PM