We have known for quite a while that children who experience abuse and/or neglect in childhood are more likely to have metabolic disorders as adults (i.e., be overweight, have type-II diabetes, high blood pressure, and so on). The mechanisms of action have not been clear, other than an awareness that it involves inflammation.

The researchers looked at the weight-regulating hormones leptin, adiponectin, and irisin (as well as the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein) in the blood of adults who endured physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect as children. They found that early-life adversity is directly associated with elevated circulating leptin and irisin, and indirectly associated with elevated CRP and decreased adiponectin.

Abuse Alters Hormones in Kids, Hikes Risk of Metabolic Disorders

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on March 21, 2014

 

A new endocrinology investigation suggests childhood abuse or neglect can lead to long-term hormone impairment that raises the risk of developing obesity, diabetes, or other metabolic disorders in adulthood.

The study is published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

For the study, researchers examined levels of the weight-regulating hormones leptin, adiponectin, and irisin in the blood of adults who endured physical, emotional, or sexual abuse or neglect as children.

Leptin is involved in regulating appetite and is linked to body-mass index (BMI) and fat mass. The hormone irisin is involved in energy metabolism. Adiponectin reduces inflammation in the body, and obese people tend to have lower levels of the hormone.

Researchers found that these important hormones were out of balance in people who had been abused or neglected as children.

“This study helps illuminate why people who have dealt with childhood adversity face a higher risk of developing excess belly fat and related health conditions,” said one of the study’s authors, Christos S. Mantzoros, M.D., D.Sc., Ph.D.

“The data suggest that childhood adversity places stress on the endocrine system, leading to impairment of important hormones that can contribute to abdominal obesity well into adulthood.”

The cross-sectional study examined hormone levels in the blood of 95 adults ages 35 to 65. Using questionnaires and interviews, each participant was assigned a score based on the severity of the abuse or neglect experienced during childhood.

Researchers divided the participants into three groups and compared hormone levels in people with the highest adversity scores to the other two-thirds of the participants.

Participants with the highest adversity scores tended to have higher levels of leptin, irisin, and the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein in their blood. All of these markers are linked to obesity.

In addition, the group of people who suffered the most adversity tended to have lower levels of adiponectin, another risk factor for obesity.

Even after researchers adjusted for differences in diet, exercise, and demographic variables among the participants, high levels of leptin and irisin continued to be associated with childhood adversity.

“What we are seeing is a direct correlation between childhood adversity and hormone impairment, over and above the impact abuse or neglect may have on lifestyle factors such as diet and education,” Mantzoros said.

“Understanding these mechanisms could help health care providers develop new and better interventions to address this population’s elevated risk of abdominal obesity and cardiometabolic risk later in life.”

Source: The Endocrine Society

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Early Life Adversity Is Associated With Elevated Levels of Circulating Leptin, Irisin, and Decreased Levels of Adiponectin in Midlife Adults

Kyoung Eun Joung^*, Kyung-Hee Park^*, Lesya Zaichenko, Ayse Sahin-Efe, Bindiya Thakkar, Mary Brinkoetter, Nicole Usher, Dorothy Warner, Cynthia R. Davis, Judith A. Crowell, and Christos S. Mantzoros

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1210/jc.2013-3669

Abstract

Context:

Early-life adversity, defined as physical, emotional, or sexual abuse and neglect before 18 years of age, is associated with metabolic syndrome, obesity, and type 2 diabetes mellitus in adult life. However, the underlying mechanism is not fully understood, and whether adipomyokines are associated with early-life adversity independent of other factors such as body mass index, psychosocial risks, and health behaviors is not known.

Objectives:

The objective of the study was to evaluate the association between early-life adversity and circulating the levels of the adipomyokines such as leptin, adiponectin, and irisin and the inflammatory marker, C-reactive protein (CRP).

Design/Subjects/Setting:

This study was a cross-sectional study of 95 adults at a university-based research center. We collected venous blood from participants and analyzed serum for leptin, adiponectin, irisin, and CRP.

Results:

Circulating leptin, irisin, and CRP levels were significantly higher in the highest adversity tertile group compared with low and middle tertile groups (P < .001 for leptin, P = .01 for irisin, and P = .02 for CRP). Adiponectin levels were lower in the highest tertile group compared with the low and middle tertile groups (P = .03). After adjusting for demographic variables, physical activity, diet, current mental health, and body mass index, the associations between early-life adversity leptin, irisin, and did not change. However, adiponectin and CRP levels were no longer significantly related to early life adversity.

Conclusion:

Early-life adversity is directly associated with elevated circulating leptin and irisin, and indirectly associated with elevated CRP and decreased adiponectin. These findings suggest that these adipomyokines may play a role in the pathogenesis of metabolic abnormality in a population with significant early life adversity.