A new type of blood test using lipids could make it easier to identify children at risk of complications around obesity, including type two diabetes, liver and heart disease, say scientists.
A new study from King’s College London, published in Nature Medicine, reveals a new relationship between lipids and diseases impacting metabolism in children. This relationship could serve as an early warning system for conditions like liver disease.
The researchers suggest using machines that test blood plasma in babies already in hospitals to help doctors spot early signs of disease in children quicker and help them access the right treatment.
The findings also contest the common idea that cholesterol is a leading cause of complications related to obesity in children, identifying new lipid molecules that contribute to health risks like blood pressure but are not only correlated with a child’s weight.
Lipids have traditionally been considered fatty acids in the body, either good or bad types of cholesterol or triglycerides, fats found in the bloodstream that is the most common in the human body. Recent studies from the same scientists have suggested that the picture is more complex.
Current evidence, using a technique associated with chemistry called mass spectrometry, estimates the thousands of different lipids present in the body, each with a separate function.
The team took a control sample of 1,300 children with obesity and assessed their blood lipids. Afterwards, 200 of them were put on the HOLBAEK model for a year, a lifestyle intervention popular in Denmark for people with obesity.
Subsequent readings showed that among the intervention group, lipid counts tied to diabetes risk, insulin resistance, and blood pressure decreased despite limited improvements in some children’s BMI.
Dr Cristina Legido-Quigley, a group leader in Systems Medicine at King’s College London, Head of Systems Medicine at the Steno Diabetes Centre Copenhagen (SDCC) and principal author, said: “For decades, scientists have relied on a classification system for lipids that have split them into good and bad cholesterol, but now with a simple blood test we can assess a much broader range of lipid molecules that could serve as vital early warning signs for illness. In the future, this has the potential to be an entirely new way to evaluate someone’s risk of disease, and by studying how to change lipid molecules in the body, we could even prevent metabolic diseases like diabetes altogether.”
Obesity continues to be a risk factor for conditions like fatty liver disease, but the team hope that doctors can use these measurements to treat children when they are at risk and not just a little larger than their peers.
Dr Karolina Sulek, who participated in the study and performed analysis at the SDCC, said: “Early recognition of children at risk for these life-threatening diseases is crucial. The study provides strong evidence of the great need for obesity management and gives parents confidence to intervene more compassionately in their children’s lives, helping them to lose weight.”