AUTHOR=Calcaterra Valeria , Vinci Federica , Casari Giulia , Pelizzo Gloria , de Silvestri Annalisa , De Amici Mara , Albertini Riccardo , Regalbuto Corrado , Montalbano Chiara , Larizza Daniela , Cena Hellas 

TITLE=Evaluation of Allostatic Load as a Marker of Chronic Stress in Children and the Importance of Excess Weight

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Pediatrics

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pediatrics/articles/10.3389/fped.2019.00335

DOI=10.3389/fped.2019.00335

ISSN=2296-2360

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Introduction:</bold> Allostatic load (AL) refers to the physiological response associated with the burden of chronic stress. Excessive weight is an important source of physiological stress that promotes a detrimental chronic low-inflammation state. In order to define a correlation between cumulative biological dysregulation and excess weight, we measured AL scores in a pediatric population.</p><p><bold>Patients and Methods:</bold> We enrolled 164 children and adolescents (11.89 ± 3.89). According to their body mass index (BMI) threshold, subjects were classified as normal in the BMI &lt; 75th percentile, overweight in the BMI 75–95th percentile or obese in the BMI &gt;95th percentile. Data based on 16 biomarkers were used to create the AL score. A dichotomous outcome for high AL was defined in those who had more than four dysregulated components.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> High AL was noted in 88/164 subjects (53.65%), without significant differences between genders (<italic>p</italic> = 0.07) or pubertal status (<italic>p</italic> = 0.10). Subjects with a high AL, in addition to a higher BMI (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), showed higher WC and WC/HtR (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), triglycerides (<italic>p</italic> = 0.002), fasting blood glucose (<italic>p</italic> = 0.03), insulin resistance (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), systolic (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (<italic>p</italic> = 0.001), GGT (<italic>p</italic> = 0.01), PCR (<italic>p</italic> = 0.01), and calprotectin (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.01) as well as lower HDL cholesterol (<italic>p</italic> = 0.002) than subjects with a low AL. The rate of the cumulative biological dysregulation increased progressively with increases in BMI (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p><p><bold>Conclusions:</bold> A high AL was associated with excess weight. AL may be considered a significant factor correlated with increased morbidity in children who are overweight/obese.</p>