Effects of metformin on epicardial adipose tissue and atrial electromechanical delay of obese children with insulin resistance

• Published in: Cardiology in the young 2020-10, Vol.30 (10), p.1429-1432
• Main Authors: Güneş, Hatice, Güneş, Hakan, Özmen, Şebnem, Çelik, Enes, Temiz, Fatih
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adipose tissue; Antidiabetics; Body fat; Body mass index; Cardiac arrhythmia; Children; Delay; Endocrinology; Glucose; Glucose metabolism; Insulin; Insulin resistance; Laboratories; Metabolism; Metformin; Obesity; Outpatient care facilities; Patients; Pediatrics; Reproducibility; Standard deviation; Statistical analysis; Thickness
• ISSN: 1047-9511; 1467-1107
• DOI: 10.1017/S1047951120002103

Introduction:Obesity is usually related to insulin resistance and glucose metabolism disorders. The relationship between insulin resistance and epicardial adipose tissue and atrial electromechanical delay has been described in previous studies.Aim:This study aims to demonstrate the effects of metformin on epicardial adipose tissue and electromechanical delay in patients using metformin for insulin resistance.Materials and methods:A total of 30 patients using metformin for insulin resistance were included in the study. Pre-treatment and post-treatment epicardial adipose tissue and electromechanical delay were evaluated.Results:There was a statistically significant decrease in epicardial adipose tissue thickness after 3 months of metformin therapy (6.4 ± 2.1 versus 4.7 ± 2.0; p = 0.008). Furthermore, the inter-atrial and intra-atrial electromechanical delay also significantly decreased after 3 months of metformin monotherapy (23.6 ± 8.2 versus 18.1 ± 5.8; p < 0.001, 9.1 ± 2.9 versus 6.3 ± 3.6; p = 0.003, respectively).Conclusion:In this study, we show that metformin monotherapy significantly decreases epicardial adipose tissue thickness and electromechanical delay in obese children.