Malondialdehyde as an independent predictor of body mass index in adolescent girls.

Background: Given the fact that the studies that examined oxidative stress in relation to obesity that included late adolescents are scarce and show inconclusive results we aimed to investigate a wide spectrum of nitro-oxidative stress biomarkers i.e., malondialdehyde (MDA), xanthine oxidase (XO), xanthine oxidoreductase (XOD), xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP) and nitric oxide products (NOx), as well as an antioxidative enzyme, i.e., catalase (CAT) in relation with obesity in the cohort of adolescent girls ages between 16 and 19 years old.

Methods: A total of 59 teenage girls were included in this cross-sectional study. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to examine possible associations between biochemical and nitro-oxidative stress markers and body mass index (BMI).

Results: There were not significant differences between oxidative stress markers between normal weight and overweight/obese girls (i.e., AOPP, XOD, XO, XDH) and CAT, except for MDA (p<0.001) and NOx (p=0.010) concentrations which were significantly higher in overweight/obese adolescent girls. Positive associations were evident between BMI and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (OR=2.495), BMI and uric acid (OR=1.024) and BMI and MDA (OR=1.062). Multivariable binary regression analysis demonstrated significant independent associations of BMI and hsCRP (OR=2.150) and BMI and MDA (OR=1.105). Even 76.3% of the variation in BMI could be explained with this Model.

Conclusions: Inflammation (as measured with hsCRP) and oxidative stress (as determined with MDA) independently correlated with BMI in teenage girls.