Effect of gut microbiome metabolites on insulin resistance in pediatric patients with obesity and sarcopenia
Immmunological Analysis
Project Summary
Obesity primarily affects the most vulnerable population groups, directly related to a country’s economic development, certain age groups, ethnicities, and socioeconomic strata; therefore, the long-term effects of obesity appear potentially more harmful than those caused by other pandemics. The global scenario of childhood obesity is also discouraging, as more than 390 million children between the ages of 5 and 18 are overweight, and of these, 160 million suffer from obesity. This means that in Mexico, 3 out of every 10 children live with obesity.
Weight gain during childhood alters organic structure and function, which is why obesity has been associated with the development of medium- and long-term comorbidities, including insulin resistance (IR), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), metabolic syndrome, hepatic steatosis, coronary artery disease, asthma, obstructive sleep apnea, orthopedic complications, depression, and low self-esteem. The rise in childhood obesity, along with the decline in muscle mass and strength (sarcopenia), poses a public health challenge, given its association with metabolic and inflammatory disorders from an early age.
Project Team
The project involved other scholars in immunolgy, metabolism, and data sciences:
- Diana Villalpando (Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, México), postdoctoral fellow in the project
- Paulina Zaldivar (Universidad Anahuac, México)
- Brenda Landa (Universidad Anahuac, México)
- Arleth Garibay (Universidad Anahuac, México)
- Jenny Vilchis (Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez, México)
At different stages of the project, we also received technical support from the Epidemiology, Endocrinology & Nutrition research Unit.