ArticlePediatric obesity2021
A branched-chain amino acid-based metabolic score can predict liver fat in children and adolescents with severe obesity.
Article in Pediatric obesity, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 38 citations in OpenAlex.
- Metabolomic Phenotype of Hepatic Steatosis and Fibrosis in Mexican Children Living with Obesity.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2023Trial
- Amino Acids-Potential Biomarkers of Histological Features for MASLD in Pediatric Obesity.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Lipidomic profiles associated with treatment related hepatotoxicity in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Metabolic characteristics in hepatocellular carcinoma: amino acid metabolic reprogramming.Molecular cancer · 2026Review
- Adverse cardio-metabolic risk profile and epicardial adiposity in patients with adrenal adenoma: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2026Article
- Current Data on the Role of Amino Acids in the Management of Obesity in Children and Adolescents.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Branched-chain amino acid metabolism: Pathophysiological mechanism and therapeutic intervention in metabolic diseases.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2025Review
- Gut microbiota and metabolomics in metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease: interaction, mechanism, and therapeutic value.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
- The Potential of Metabolomics as a Tool for Identifying Biomarkers Associated with Obesity and Its Complications: A Scoping Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Glucagon, Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease and Amino Acids in Humans and Animals without Diabetes Mellitus-An Evidence Map.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Lactobacillus helveticus attenuates alcoholic liver injury via regulation of gut microecology in mice.Microbial biotechnology · 2024Article
- Association of Whole Blood Amino Acid and Acylcarnitine Metabolome with Anthropometry and IGF-I Serum Levels in Healthy Children and Adolescents in Germany.Metabolites · 2024Article
- Review
- Examining the Pathogenesis of MAFLD and the Medicinal Properties of Natural Products from a Metabolic Perspective.Metabolites · 2024Review
- Dietary and Nutritional Interventions in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Pediatrics.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Plasma Amino Acids in NAFLD Patients with Obesity Are Associated with Steatosis and Fibrosis: Results from the MAST4HEALTH Study.Metabolites · 2023Article
- Sex, Nutrition, and NAFLD: Relevance of Environmental Pollution.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Article
- Amino acid profile in overweight and obese prepubertal children - can simple biochemical tests help in the early prevention of associated comorbidities?Frontiers in endocrinology · 2023Article
- Association of Metabolic Signatures with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Pediatric Population.Metabolites · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEighty percent of adolescents with severe obesity suffer from non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Non-invasive prediction models have been tested in adults, however, they performed poorly in paediatric populations.
objectiveThis study aimed to investigate novel biomarkers for NAFLD and to develop a score that predicts liver fat in youth with severe obesity.
methodsFrom a population with a BMI >97th percentile aged 9-19 years (n = 68), clinically thoroughly characterized including MRI-derived proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF), amino acids and acylcarnitines were measured by HPLC-MS.
resultsIn children with NAFLD, higher levels of plasma branched-chain amino acids (BCAA) were determined. BCAAs correlated with MRI-PDFF (R = 0.46, p < .01). We identified a linear regression model adjusted for age, sex and pubertal stage consisting of BCAAs, ALT, GGT, ferritin and insulin that predicted MRI-PDFF (R = 0.75, p < .01). ROC analysis of this model revealed AUCs of 0.85, 0.85 and 0.92 for the detection of any, moderate and severe steatosis, respectively, thus markedly outperforming previously published scores.
conclusionBCAAs could be an important link between obesity and other metabolic pathways. A BCAA-based metabolic score can predict steatosis grade in high-risk children and adolescents and may provide a feasible alternative to sophisticated methods like MRI or biopsy in the future.
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