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Special Issue Editor

Dr. Jin Soo Moon

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Guest Editor

Department of Pediatrics, Seoul National University Children's Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
Interests: child; Korea; pediatrics; mutation; metabolomics; obesity; pediatric obesity; pediatric NAFLD; pediatric Crohn’s disease

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The global epidemic of pediatric obesity is a major burden of disease in our generation and will also impact the future. To intervene this problem, it is very important to assess the severity of the obesity and its associated metabolic syndrome, and to detect the factors associated with risk stratification. Among the metabolic comorbidities, pediatric non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is regarded as a core element to identify high-risk patients. However, metabolic signatures in pediatric NAFLD have not been well-known up to now, compared to the other associated health problems. ‘Multi-omics’ signatures including metabolomics, lipidomics, proteomics, genomics, and metagenomics could provide us with informative guidance for the risk stratification in patients with NAFLD. Samples from the various body components and fluids such as blood, urine, stool, saliva, and respiratory gas could provide us with a variety of access points to gain useful information. We should expand our knowledge about the metabolic signatures about NAFLD to meet the urgent needs.

This Special Issue of Metabolites, "Metabolic Signature of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children", will be dedicated not only to in-depth applications of metabolomics techniques to the biotechnology field, but also to cutting-edge technology development for detailed ‘metabolotyping’, from both fundamental and applied points of view. The topics that will be covered by this Special Issue include, but are not limited to: the functional genomics that identify novel metabolites and gene functions, any metabolic data interpretation with diet and anthropometric information, and any metabolic signatures associated with NAFLD in pediatric longitudinal data. Manuscripts dealing with other challenging issues are also highly desired. Any human data relevant to this Issue covering ages from the fetus to young adults are welcomed. Animal data related to NAFLD in the context of growth and maturation are also welcome.

Dr. Jin Soo Moon
Guest Editor

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Keywords

obesity
diet
fatty liver
non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
child
adolescent
metabolomics
lipidomics
proteomics
genomics

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 912 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of Aspartate Transaminase to Platelet Ratio Index (APRI) for the Prediction of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) in Severely Obese Children and Adolescents

by Antonello E. Rigamonti, Adele Bondesan, Eugenia Rondinelli, Silvano G. Cella and Alessandro Sartorio

Metabolites 2022, 12(2), 155; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/metabo12020155 - 08 Feb 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2635 | Correction

Abstract

The aspartate transaminase to platelet ratio index (APRI) has been proposed as an easy-to-use biochemical marker in obese adults with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatotic hepatitis (NASH). The objective of the present study was to evaluate the clinical and predictive value of APRI in a paediatric obese population. Seven hundred fifty-seven obese children and adolescents (BMI standard deviation score, SDS: >2.0; age range: 10–18.5 years), not consuming alcohol and without hepatitis B or C, were recruited after having been screened for NAFLD by ultrasonography. A series of demographic, biochemical and clinical parameters was compared between the two subgroups (with or without NAFLD); the same parameters were correlated with APRI; and finally, univariable and multivariable logistic regression was used to evaluate the predictors of NAFLD. NAFLD was diagnosed in about 39% of the entire paediatric population, predominantly in males and in subjects suffering from metabolic syndrome. APRI was correlated with the waist circumference (WC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), uric acid, total bilirubin, C reactive protein (CRP) and systolic blood pressure (SBP). Furthermore, APRI was higher in males than females, but independent from steatosis severity and metabolic syndrome. With the univariable analysis, the BMI SDS, triglycerides (TG), insulin, homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), APRI, uric acid and metabolic syndrome were positive predictors of NAFLD, with female sex being negative predictor. At multivariable analysis; however, only BMI SDS, TG, HOMA-IR and APRI were positive predictors of NAFLD, with female sex being a negative predictor. The accuracy of APRI as a biochemical marker of NAFLD was about 60%.In conclusion, in a large (Italian) paediatric obese population, parameters, such as BMI SDS, TG, HOMA-IR and APRI, were positive predictors of NAFLD, with female sex being a negative predictor and most of the prediction explained by APRI. Nevertheless, APRI appears to be a simple biochemical marker of liver injury rather than of NAFLD/NASH and, moreover, is endowed with a limited accuracy for the prediction/diagnosis of NAFLD. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolic Signature of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children)

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12 pages, 1736 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Metabolomic Signatures for the Effects of Weight Loss Interventions on Severe Obesity in Children and Adolescents

by Min-Ji Sohn, Woori Chae, Jae-Sung Ko, Joo-Youn Cho, Ji-Eun Kim, Ji-Yeob Choi, Han-Byul Jang, Hye-Ja Lee, Sang-Ick Park, Kyung-Hee Park, Peter J. van der Spek and Jin-Soo Moon

Metabolites 2022, 12(1), 27; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/metabo12010027 - 30 Dec 2021

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2215

Abstract

Childhood obesity has increased worldwide, and many clinical and public interventions have attempted to reduce morbidity. We aimed to determine the metabolomic signatures associated with weight control interventions in children with obesity. Forty children from the “Intervention for Children and Adolescent Obesity via Activity and Nutrition (ICAAN)” cohort were selected according to intervention responses. Based on changes in body mass index z-scores, 20 were responders and the remaining non-responders. Their serum metabolites were quantitatively analyzed using capillary electrophoresis time-of-flight mass spectrometry at baseline and after 6 and 18 months of intervention. After 18 months of intervention, the metabolite cluster changes in the responders and non-responders showed a difference on the heatmap, but significant metabolites were not clear. However, regardless of the responses, 13 and 49 metabolites were significant in the group of children with obesity intervention at 6 months and 18 months post-intervention compared to baseline. In addition, the top five metabolic pathways (D-glutamine and D-glutamate metabolism; arginine biosynthesis; alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism; TCA cycle (tricarboxylic acid cycle); valine, leucine, and isoleucine biosynthesis) including several amino acids in the metabolites of obese children after 18 months were significantly changed. Our study showed significantly different metabolomic profiles based on time post obesity-related intervention. Through this study, we can better understand and predict childhood obesity through metabolite analysis and monitoring. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Metabolic Signature of Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children)

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