{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,9]],"date-time":"2026-06-09T16:38:43Z","timestamp":1781023123985,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,16]],"date-time":"2024-03-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1710547200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS\/CC-CDI-UEFISCDI","award":["PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2019-0118"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["PN-III-P1-1.1-PD-2019-0118"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Childhood obesity is one of the major challenges of public health policies. The problem of fatty liver in childhood, known as MAFLD (metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease), is of particular interest as the gold standard diagnosis technique is invasive (liver biopsy). Hence, efforts are made to discover more specific biomarkers for the MAFLD signature. Therefore, the aim of the study was to evaluate Osteonectin and Hsp27 as biomarkers for MAFLD diagnosis and to assess their links with auxological and biochemical profiles of overweight and obese pediatric subjects. Methods: A cross-sectional study in which we (re)analyzed data from the MR PONy cohort comprising 71 pediatric subjects. Auxological data, liver ultrasonography and biochemical serum profile were recorded. Lipid-derived indices and body composition indices were calculated. Nevertheless, serum Osteonectin and Hsp27 levels were assessed using an ELISA approach. Results: MAFLD prevalence was 40.8%. Higher Osteonectin levels were noted in MAFLD subjects versus non-MAFLD subjects and in dyslipidemic children regardless of their liver function status. Lipid-derived indices had good diagnostic capacity for MAFLD. Conclusions: We confirm Osteonectin as a MAFLD diagnosis biomarker in children. Also, lipid-derived indices are useful as metabolic-associated organ impairment markers in children even before the onset of obesity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu16060866","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,18]],"date-time":"2024-03-18T08:17:29Z","timestamp":1710749849000},"page":"866","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Exploring the Role of Serum Osteonectin and Hsp27 in Pediatric MAFLD Diagnosis and Cardiometabolic Health"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"given":"Anca","family":"B\u0103l\u0103nescu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 2nd District, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul-Cristian","family":"B\u0103l\u0103nescu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 2nd District, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"Clinical Research Unit RECIF (Reseau d\u2019Epidemiologie Clinique International Francophone), 19-21 Stefan cel Mare Street, 2nd District, 020125 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ioana Florentina","family":"Codreanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 2nd District, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Mother and Child Health \u201cAlessandrescu-Rusescu\u201d, 120 Lacul Tei Boulevard, 2nd District, 020395 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1877-7937","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Iustina-Violeta","family":"Stan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 2nd District, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Mother and Child Health \u201cAlessandrescu-Rusescu\u201d, 120 Lacul Tei Boulevard, 2nd District, 020395 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Valentina-Daniela","family":"Comanici","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 2nd District, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Mother and Child Health \u201cAlessandrescu-Rusescu\u201d, 120 Lacul Tei Boulevard, 2nd District, 020395 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Alina Maria","family":"Robu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 2nd District, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Mother and Child Health \u201cAlessandrescu-Rusescu\u201d, 120 Lacul Tei Boulevard, 2nd District, 020395 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tatiana","family":"Ciom\u00e2rtan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, \u201cCarol Davila\u201d University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 37 Dionisie Lupu Street, 2nd District, 020021 Bucharest, Romania"},{"name":"National Institute for Mother and Child Health \u201cAlessandrescu-Rusescu\u201d, 120 Lacul Tei Boulevard, 2nd District, 020395 Bucharest, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"322","DOI":"10.1159\/000368783","article-title":"EASO SAB Working Group on BMI. 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