Background: Abdominal obesity alters the composition of plasma and tissue long chain fatty acids and thus affects a number of important physiological functions relating to the development of cardiometabolic diseases. The fatty acid composition is modulated by desaturases; stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), delta-6 desaturase (D6D) and delta-5 desaturase (D5D). Therefore, we examined the relationship between the desaturase activities and abdominal adiposity.
Methods: One hundred eighty-one children (98 males, 83 females), including 42 children with abdominal obesity having waist to height ratio (WHtR) >0.5, were recruited. Fatty acid composition in plasma phospholipids was analyzed by gas chromatography after overnight fast, and SCD activity was estimated by 18:1/18:0 ratio.
Results: In children without abdominal obesity, WHtR correlated positively with D6D activity (r = 0.252, p = 0.0027) and negatively with SCD activity (r = -0.289, p = 0.0006), but not with D5D activity (r = -0.159, p = 0.0607). While in children with abdominal obesity, WHtR had a positive association with SCD activity (r = 0.332, p = 0.0315), but not with D6D (r = 0.267, p = 0.0847) or D5D activity (r = 0.008, p = 0.9600).
Conclusion: The relationship between the desaturase activities and abdominal adiposity altered in children with abdominal obesity. Especially, SCD activity demonstrated a U-shaped association with WHtR. (C) 2013 Asian Oceanian Association for the Study of Obesity. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.