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Low-Birth Weight Children Develop Lower Sex Hormone Binding Globulin and Higher Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate Levels and Aggravate their Visceral Adiposity and Hypoadiponectinemia between Six and Eight Years of Age

Endocrinology Unit (L.I., M.D., L.S.), Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, 08950 Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Diabetes y Enfermedades Metabólicas Asociadas (L.I., M.D.), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 14004 Madrid, Spain; Pediatric Endocrine Unit (A.L.-B.), Dr. Trueta Hospital, 17007 Girona, Spain; and Department of Woman and Child (F.d.Z.), University of Leuven, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Lourdes Ibáñez, M.D., Ph.D., Endocrinology Unit, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, University of Barcelona, Passeig de Sant Joan de Déu, 2, 08950 Esplugues, Barcelona, Spain. E-mail: libanez{at}hsjdbcn.org.

Background: Most children born small for gestational age (SGA) normalize their body size by late infancy. Between 2 and 6 yr, such SGA children develop higher circulating levels of insulin, lower levels of adiponectin, and more visceral fat than appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) controls, even in the absence of overweight. Here we report on their further course between 6 and 8 yr.

Study Design and Population: Longitudinal study over 2 yr comparing data from 32 AGA vs. 32 SGA children, matched for gender, height, weight, and body mass index at the age of 6 yr.

Main Outcomes: Fasting insulin, dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS), SHBG, high-molecular-weight (HMW) adiponectin, leptin, IGF-I; body composition by absorptiometry; and abdominal fat partitioning by magnetic resonance imaging.

Results: Between 6 and 8 yr, novel AGA-vs.-SGA divergences emerged (higher DHEAS and lower SHBG in SGA; P < 0.001), and some earlier divergences widened further (HMW adiponectin, visceral fat; P < 0.001), whereas others stabilized (fasting insulin, IGF-I). At age 8 yr, the most discerning features of SGA children were a high ratio of visceral over sc fat in the abdominal region (69% of SGA children), HMW hypoadiponectinemia (41%), fasting hyperinsulinemia (34%), and elevated circulating IGF-I levels (31%).

Conclusion: SGA children with spontaneous catch-up growth develop relatively high DHEAS and low SHBG levels and become more often HMW hypoadiponectinemic and viscerally adipose between 6 and 8 yr of age.