{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,20]],"date-time":"2026-02-20T12:36:32Z","timestamp":1771590992376,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,23]],"date-time":"2022-05-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1653264000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004914","name":"Ferring Pharmaceuticals","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004914","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Endocrinol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>While for individuals with obesity an association between hyperleptinemia and an increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is assumed, a leptin deficiency is also related to the development of NAFLD early in life in <jats:italic>ob\/ob<\/jats:italic> mice, in patients with leptin deficiency due to biallelic likely pathogenic variants in the leptin gene, and in patients with lipodystrophy.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title><jats:p>To investigate the association of circulating leptin levels in pre-pubertal children with obesity and steatosis hepatis.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>The cross-sectional study consisted data of n=97 (n<jats:sub>male<\/jats:sub>=76) pre-pubertal children (11.8 \u00b1 1.5 years) with obesity (BMIz: 2.4 \u00b1 0.4). Fasting concentrations of cardiometabolic parameters were measured: insulin, c-peptide, glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, AST, ALT, GGT, leptin. Steatosis hepatis was diagnosed by an ultrasound examination (mild, moderate or severe). Patients were categorized into two groups: low z-score of circulating leptin levels (\u226425th percentile) vs. normal z-score of circulating leptin levels.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>One-third of the children with obesity were diagnosed with steatosis hepatis (I\u00b0: 63.6%, II\u00b0\/III\u00b0: 36.4%). Children with steatosis hepatis had significantly lower z-scores of circulating leptin levels compared to children with an unremarkable liver ultrasonography (-2.1 \u00b1 0.8 vs. -0.7 \u00b1 0.6). Z-scores of circulating leptin levels correlate negatively with degree of steatosis hepatis. Children with low z-scores of circulating leptin levels had significantly higher triglyceride, fasting insulin and c-peptide levels compared to children with normal z-scores of circulating leptin levels.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Prepubertal children with NAFLD and obesity and partial leptin deficiency might be defined as a clinical subgroup.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2022.881982","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,5,23]],"date-time":"2022-05-23T13:26:28Z","timestamp":1653312388000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Lower Circulating Leptin Levels Are Related to Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Children With 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