Adipokine expression in adipose tissue and in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in children

Objective Adipose tissue contributes in energy, lipid homeostasis and inflammation, through the adipokines it releases. Our aim was to study the associations between adipose tissue (AT) fatty acid content, adipokines' expression in AT and PBMCs and BMI in children. Methods Thirty-one (17 male) healthy children aged 10.9 ± 1.8 years and of BMI 19.3 ± 3.5 kg/m2 were enrolled. Adipokines (TNF-alpha, IL-6, leptin and visfatin) expression was quantified by real-time quantitative PCR in AT and PBMCs. Serum levels were measured by ELISA and fatty acids (FA) from AT by gas chromatography. Results BMI was correlated with monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) (β = 0.339, p = 0.043), arachidonic (AA) (β = 0.576, p ≤ 0.001) and eicosapentaenoic acids (EPA) (β = 0.404, p = 0.004) and negatively with stearic acid (β = − 0.577, p ≤ 0.001). TNF-alpha and visfatin expression from PBMCs were positively correlated with MUFAs (β = 0.271, p = 0.027 and β = 0.214, p = 0.020, respectively), n−9 fatty acids (β = 0.313, p = 0.010 and β = 0.269 and p = 0.024, respectively) and with docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (β = 0.429, p = 0.004 and β = 0.484, p ≤ 0.001, respectively), while negatively with the ratio n−6/n−3 (β = − 0.490, p = 0.007 and β = − 0.374, p = 0.044). Conclusions A series of FA molecules were correlated with children's BMI and with TNF-alpha and visfatin expression from PBMCs indicating that AT fatty acid content, might have a role, as a potential regulator of PBMCs inflammatory gene expression.