The Effect of a Multidisciplinary Lifestyle Intervention Program on Apelin-12, Vaspin and Resistin Concentrations in Children and Adolescents with Overweight and Obesity

<b>Background:</b> Obesity in childhood and adolescence has reached epidemic proportions in recent decades. <b>Methods:</b> In the present study, we determined the concentrations of apelin-12, vaspin and resistin in 106 children and adolescents with overweight or obesity before and after the implementation of a multidisciplinary, personalized lifestyle intervention program of diet, sleep and exercise for 1 year. All subjects attended our Center for the Prevention and Management of Overweight and Obesity in Childhood and Adolescence. <b>Results:</b> Following the lifestyle intervention, there were significant decreases in BMI (<i>p</i> < 0.01), apelin-12 (<i>p</i> < 0.05) and resistin (<i>p</i> < 0.01) concentrations, and an increase in vaspin (<i>p</i> < 0.01) concentration. Glucose was the best positive predictor of apelin-12 (b = 0.236, <i>p</i> < 0.05), and osteopontin was the best negative predictor of changes in apelin-12 (b = -0.299, <i>p</i> < 0.05). Vaspin correlated positively with adiponectin (b = 0.29, <i>p</i> < 0.05), while vitamin D (b = 0.621, <i>p</i> < 0.05) was the best positive predictor of vaspin. BMI z score (b = -0.794, <i>p</i> < 0.05), HDL (b = -0.284, <i>p</i> < 0.05) and HbA1C (b = -0.262, <i>p</i> < 0.05) were the best negative predictors of changes in vaspin. BMI z score was the best positive predictor of resistin (b = 0.437, <i>p</i> < 0.05). <b>Conclusions:</b> These findings suggest that apelin-12, vaspin and resistin correlate with indices of obesity, glucose, lipids and bone metabolism, while interaction with other proteins, such as osteopontin and adiponectin, was also noted. Therefore, apelin-12, vaspin and resistin may be used as biomarkers in children and adolescents with overweight and obesity.