(P10-067-24) The Relationship Between Puberty, Age, Weight Status, Familial Hypercholesterolemia, and Blood Lipid Parameters in Participants Enrolled in the MetA-Bone Clinical Trial

Objectives: Pediatric dyslipidemia may contribute to the development of atherosclerosis and lead to cardiovascular events in adulthood. Although lifestyle is commonly associated with this condition, family history, physical growth, and pubertal changes have also been related with fluctuations in blood lipids. The purpose of this cross-sectional analysis was to evaluate the correlation between pubertal maturation, age, weight status, familial hypercholesterolemia, and blood lipid parameters in children and adolescents enrolled in the MetA-Bone Clinical Trial.

Methods: At baseline, sociodemographic information and health history, including pubertal stage and history of familial hypercholesterolemia, were collected via self-reported questionnaires. Anthropometric data and fasting blood samples were collected by trained personnel. Measures included body weight, height, waist circumference, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL, LDL, cholesterol/HDL, and non-HDL cholesterol. The relationships between blood lipid parameters and all other measures were estimated using Pearson’s correlation. Significance was set at p < .05.

Results: Out of 190 enrolled participants, 108 were included in this analysis. Eighty-two were excluded due to missing data. Of the 108 included (11.7±1.53 years of age, 19.5±3.22 BMI) 54% were male, 78% were White, 13% were Black, and 76% were Hispanic/Latino. Elevated total cholesterol, LDL and triglycerides were found in 26%, 23% and 3% of the sample, respectively. Low HDL was found in 14% of participants. HDL was inversely correlated (r ≤ - .4, p < .001) with body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and pubertal stage. There was a positive correlation (r = .445, p < .001) between cholesterol/HDL and BMI. Total cholesterol was also significantly correlated with pubertal stage (r = -.295), age (r = -.205), and familial dyslipidemia (r = .199).

Conclusions: Data suggests significant correlations between total cholesterol, HDL, cholesterol/HDL, weight status, pubertal maturation, familial dyslipidemia, and age in participants in the MetA-Bone trial. These results indicate complex relationships between physical growth and blood lipid parameters and reveal a connection between familial and pediatric dyslipidemia. This finding may support the development of interventions targeted to children and teens at risk.

Funding Sources: NIH