_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ OA Maced J Med Sci. 2015 Dec 15; 3(4):563-566. 563 ID Design 2012/DOOEL Skopje Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences. 2015 Dec 15; 3(4):563-566. http://dx.doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2015.123 eISSN: 1857-9655 Basic Science Adipokines Vaspin and Visfatin in Obese Children Hassan M. Salama 1* , Ashraf Galal 1 , Ayat A. Motawie 1 , Ashraf F. Kamel 1 , Doaa M. Ibrahim 2 , Azza A. Aly 3 , Emman A. Hassan 1 1 National Research Centre, Pediatrics, Cairo, Egypt; 2 Ain Shams University, Faculty of Science, Cairo, Egypt; 3 National Research Centre, Department of Chemical and Clinical Pathology, Cairo, Egypt Citation: Salama HM, Galal A, Motawie AA, Kamel AF, Ibrahim DM, Aly AA, Hassan EA. Adipokines Vaspin and Visfatin in Obese Children. OA Maced J Med Sci. 2015 Dec 15; 3(4):563-566. http://dx.doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2015.123 Key words: Vaspin; visfatin; obese; children; adipokines. * Correspondence: Prof. Hassan Mohamed Salama. NRC, Pediatrics, Cairo 19961, Egypt. Phone: +201006514147. E-Mail: hsalama27@gmail.com Received: 10-Nov-2013; Revised: 19-Feb-2014; Accepted: 20-Feb-2014; Online first: 26-Nov-2015 Copyright: © 2015 Hassan Hassan M. Salama, Ashraf Galal, Ayat A. Motawie, Ashraf F. Kamel, Doaa M. Ibrahim, Azza A. Aly, Emman A. Hassan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. Abstract BACKGROUND: Adipokines provides new insights about the physiology, pathology and treatment of obesity. AIM: We investigated the association between serum vaspin and serum visfatin concentrations with obesity in Egyptian children. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty two obese children with body mass index (BMI) above 95th percentile; 11 males and 11 females were included in this study. Their mean age was 9.18 ± 2.8 years. After general clinical examination, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides, total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were measured in cases and controls (n=11). Fasting insulin, vaspin and visfatin were detected using ELIZA. Insulin resistance was estimated by Homeostasis model assessment method (HOMA-IR). RESULTS: Blood pressure, in both systolic and diastolic measurements was elevated significantly in obese children. Significant elevation of serum insulin and insulin resistance (HOMA/IR) were observed in obese children too. Vaspin and visfatin showed significant elevation in obese children than controls. Significant positive correlations were detected between visfatin and BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference and HOMA/IR. We found that Vaspin and visfatin are higher in obese children. CONCLUSION: Visfatin but not vaspin correlates positively with waist circumference and HOMA/IR in obese children. Introduction Adipose tissue is the source of adipokines, secreted mainly by adipocytes. The rapidly growing list of adipokines provides new insights about the physiology, pathology and treatment of obesity [1]. Recently, vaspin (visceral adipose tissue-derived serpin protease inhibitor) and visfatin (also known as pre-B-cell colony-enhancing factor 1), have been identified as interesting novel adipokines having insulin-sensitizing and insulin-mimic effects, respectively [2]. Vaspin was originally identified in an animal model of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Increased vaspin mRNA expression in human adipose tissue was found to be associated with obesity [3]. Visfatin, in human, is expressed more in visceral adipose tissue than subcutaneous one. It is upregulated during inflammation [4]. Obesity and metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents is a leading cause of a low grade systemic inflammation [5]. Obesity is associated with an array of health problems in adult and pediatric populations. Adipokines are signaling to organs such as brain, liver, skeletal muscle, and the immune system— thereby modulating homeostasis, blood pressure, lipid and glucose metabolism, inflammation, and atherosclerosis [6]. The secretion of several adipokines is altered in subjects with abdominal adiposity and these changes to the endocrine balance may contribute to increased cardiovascular diseases risk [7]. The association of novel adipokines, vaspin and visfatin, with atherosclerosis is still obscure [8]. We investigated the association between serum vaspin and serum visfatin concentrations and obesity in Egyptian children.