Copeptin: a biochemical predictor of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents with obesity

Abstract Background Copeptin hormone is a stable arginine vasopressin biomarker. High concentrations of this peptide have been linked to obesity and metabolic syndrome. Objective To compare the serum copeptin concentrations in children and adolescents with obesity with a matched group of healthy lean controls and correlate serum copeptin in the obese group with metabolic syndrome risk factors. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in the endocrinology clinic at Cairo University Children’s Hospital. The study included 50 children and adolescents with obesity and 50 age- and sex-matched healthy lean children as a control group. Anthropometric measurements, fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, glycated hemoglobin, and copeptin were evaluated in patients. Copeptin was evaluated for the controls. Results The mean ± SD of copeptin level of children with obesity was significantly higher than mean ± SD of copeptin of the healthy children (1853.9 ± 109 pg/ml, 1646.2 ± 92.3 pg/ml respectively, p < 0.0001), with the most elevated levels being detected in children with obesity and metabolic syndrome. Copeptin level ≥ 1800.5 pg/ml could predict the development of metabolic syndrome with 82% sensitivity and 50% specificity. Copeptin hormone had significant positive correlations with body mass index SDS, waist circumference, body fat %, fasting blood glucose, and triglycerides of children with obesity ( p = 0.001, < 0.0001, < 0.0001, 0.04, and < 0.0001, respectively). Conclusion Copeptin is a biomarker that could be utilized to complement other clinical and laboratory parameters, in the evaluation of the metabolic syndrome in children with obesity. In our cohort, copeptin had positive correlations with some parameters of metabolic syndrome including fasting blood glucose and serum triglycerides.