Dietary treatment in phenylketonuria does not lead to increased risk of obesity or metabolic syndrome

• Published in: Molecular genetics and metabolism 2012-12, Vol.107 (4), p.659-663
• Main Authors: Rocha, Júlio C., van Spronsen, Francjan J., Almeida, Manuela F., Soares, Gabriela, Quelhas, Dulce, Ramos, Elisabete, Guimarães, João T., Borges, Nuno
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Factors; Body fat; Case-Control Studies; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Dyslipidemia; Female; Humans; Male; Metabolic syndrome; Metabolic Syndrome - epidemiology; Metabolic Syndrome - etiology; Obesity; Obesity - epidemiology; Obesity - etiology; Overweight; Phenylketonuria; Phenylketonurias - complications; Phenylketonurias - diet therapy; Prevalence; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1096-7192; 1096-7206
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2012.10.006

Little is known about the consequences of the special energy enriched diet used to treat patients with phenylketonuria (PKU) in terms of obesity and metabolic syndrome (MetSyn) development. To investigate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, and its consequences in terms of body composition and MetSyn in early treated patients with PKU compared to controls. A sample of 89 patients with PKU (3–30y; 14.4±6.6y) and 79 controls (3–47y; 16.3±7.9y) were studied. In the fasted state, anthropometric, body composition, blood pressure and analytical parameters [amino acids, glucose, insulin, total and HDL-cholesterol (HDL-c), triglycerides (TG), high sensitivity c-reactive protein and uric acid] were performed. Data on dietary intake was collected. BMI was classified using WHO criteria, while the definition from International Diabetes Federation (IDF) was used for MetSyn. Prevalence of overweight and obesity (32.6% vs. 24.1%; p=0.293), body fat percentage (22% vs. 23.1%, p=0.581) and central obesity (36.9% vs. 36.4%, p=0.999) were comparable to controls. Patients revealed a higher TG/HDL-c (p