Adipokines as biomarkers in paediatric acute pancreatitis: a prospective exploratory single-centre observational study

BACKGROUND: Adipokines are involved in inflammatory response, including pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis (AP). Studies in adults suggest their potential role as biomarkers of AP severity and clinical course. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of adiponectin, resistin, visfatin, and fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF-21) as biomarkers in paediatric AP, with regard to disease severity and nutritional status. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This prospective observational exploratory study included children with AP hospitalised between 2020 and 2024 and normal-weight controls with functional abdominal pain. Adipokine concentrations were compared between groups and according to nutritional status, and disease severity. Receiver operating characteristic analysis and univariate logistic regression were performed to evaluate the discriminatory performance and associations of adipokines and conventional inflammatory markers. RESULTS: < 0.001). In logistic regression, only conventional inflammatory markers predicted AP severity. CONCLUSION: Although selected adipokines were associated with inflammatory and metabolic alterations in paediatric AP, none demonstrated superior discriminatory performance compared with conventional inflammatory markers.