Association between alanine aminotransferase as surrogate of fatty liver disease and physical activity and sedentary time in adolescents with obesity

• Published in: European journal of pediatrics 2022-08, Vol.181 (8), p.3119-3129
• Main Authors: Julian, Valérie, Bergsten, Peter, Ennequin, Gael, Forslund, Anders, Ahlstrom, Hakan, Ciba, Iris, Dahlbom, Marie, Furthner, Dieter, Gomahr, Julian, Kullberg, Joel, Maruszczak, Katharina, Morwald, Katharina, Olsson, Roger, Pixner, Thomas, Schneider, Anna, Pereira, Bruno, Ring-Dimitriou, Suzanne, Thivel, David, Weghuber, Daniel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alanine; Alanine transaminase; Aspartate aminotransferase; Biochemical markers; Body mass index; Enzymes; Exercise; Fatty liver; Human health and pathology; Life Sciences; Liver; Liver diseases; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; Obesity; Original Article; Pediatric obesity; Pediatrics; Physical activity; Population studies; Sedentary behavior; Teenagers; γ-Glutamyltransferase
• ISSN: 1432-1076; 0340-6199; 1432-1076
• DOI: 10.1007/s00431-022-04539-z

To compare patterns of sedentary (SED) time (more sedentary, SED + vs less sedentary, SED-), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) time (more active, MVPA + vs less active, MVPA-), and combinations of behaviors (SED-/MVPA + , SED-/MVPA-, SED + /MVPA + , SED + /MVPA-) regarding nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases (NAFLD) markers. This cross-sectional study included 134 subjects (13.4 ± 2.2 years, body mass index (BMI) 98.9 ± 0.7 percentile, 48.5% females) who underwent 24-h/7-day accelerometry, anthropometric, and biochemical markers (alanine aminotransferase (ALT) as first criterion, and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), gamma - glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), AST/ALT ratio as secondary criteria). A subgroup of 39 patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging-liver fat content (MRI-LFC). Hepatic health was better in SED- (lower ALT, GGT, and MRI-LFC ( p