RT journal article
T1 Sexually dimorphic metal alterations in childhood obesityare modulated by a complex interplay between inflammation, insulin, and sex hormones
A1 González-Domínguez, Álvaro
A1 Domínguez Riscart, Jesús
A1 Millán-Martínez, María
A1 Lechuga Sancho, Alfonso María
A1 González-Domínguez, Raúl
A2 Materno-Infantil y Radiología
K1 childhood obesity
K1 inflammation
K1 insulin
K1 trace elements
AB Although growing evidence points to a pivotal role of perturbed metal homeostasis in childhood obesity, sexual dimorphisms in this association have rarely been investigated. In this study, we applied multi-elemental analysis to plasma and erythrocyte samples from an observational cohort comprising children with obesity, with and without insulin resistance, and healthy control children. Furthermore, a wide number of variables related to carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, inflammation, and sex hormones were also determined. Children with obesity, regardless of sex and insulin resistance status, showed increased plasma copper-to-zinc ratios. More interestingly, obesity-related erythroid alterations were found to be sex-dependent, with increased contents of iron, zinc, and copper being exclusively detected among female subjects. Our findings suggest that a sexually dimorphic hormonal dysregulation in response to a pathological cascade involving inflammatory processes and hyperinsulinemia could be the main trigger of this female-specific intracellular sequestration of trace elements. Therefore, the present study highlights the relevance of genotypic sex as a susceptibility factor influencing the pathogenic events behind childhood obesity, thereby opening the door to develop sex-personalized approaches in the context of precision medicine. © 2023 The Authors. BioFactors published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.
PB Wiley
SN 0951-6433
YR 2023
FD 2023-03
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10498/28627
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10498/28627
LA eng
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Cádiz
RD 11-nov-2026