Table 1.

Characteristics of the Leipzig AT Childhood Cohort (N = 133)

	Lean			Overweight and obese			P
	n	Mean ± SEM	Range	n	Mean ± SEM	Range
Anthropometric parameters
Male/female (% male)	59	27/32 (45.8)		74	35/39 (47.3)		0.860
Age, years	59	10.4 ± 0.6	1.1 to 18.3	74	13.3 ± 0.3	4.8 to 18.4	<0.001
Pubertal stage, PH	50	2 ± 0	1 to 6	64	3 ± 0	1 to 6	0.003
BMI SDS	59	0.07 ± 0.11	−1.80 to 1.24	74	2.31 ± 0.07	1.32 to 4.34	<0.001
Height SDS	51	−0.04 ± 0.17	−3.18 to 2.31	61	0.35 ± 0.14	−3.16 to 2.37	0.076
AT composition
Adipocyte diameter, µm	32	114 ± 2	81 to 139	44	127 ± 2	98 to 175	<0.001
Total adipocyte number × 109a	21	24.7 ± 3.2	9.1 to 69.8	31	52.0 ± 4.8	22.7 to 114.4	<0.001
Isolated adipocytes per g AT × 106a	32	2.3 ± 0.1	1.2 to 4.4	45	1.9 ± 0.8	1.0 to 3.1	0.003
Isolated SVF cells per g AT × 105a	27	1.0 ± 0.1	0.0 to 2.4	31	1.2 ± 0.1	0.1 to 4.1	0.841
AT inflammation
Macrophages per 100 adipocytesa	49	9 ± 1	0 to 29	59	16 ± 2	0 to 115	0.013
CLS per 100 adipocytesa	49	0 ± 0	0 to 2	59	1 ± 0	0 to 8	<0.001
hs-CRP mg/La	47	0.7 ± 0.1	0.3 to 3.2	65	2.1 ± 0.3	0.3 to 18.7	<0.001
TNF-α pg/mL	44	1.96 ± 0.19	0.68 to 1.78	61	2.03 ± 0.14	0.66 to 5.77	0.698
AT functional parameters
Doubling time of native cells from the SVF, ha	22	142.8 ± 26.6	14.5 to 524.3	29	178.7 ± 34.1	17.8 to 735.9	0.617
Growth rate of proliferating native SVF cellsa	21	0.016 ± 0.002	0.003 to 0.037	24	0.013 ± 0.001	0.004 to 0.030	0.363
Generation time of proliferating native SVF cells, ha	21	72.3 ± 12.7	18.9 to 205.0	24	65.7 ± 8.1	23.3 to 180.7	0.894
Differentiation of cells from the SVF, %	21	28.6 ± 3.6	4.0 to 58.2	27	26.1 ± 3.3	0.2 to 73.2	0.608
Basal lipolysis in adipocytes	15	0.49 ± 0.05	0.20 to 0.83	14	0.36 ± 0.05	0.18 to 0.74	0.071
Isoproterenol-stimulated lipolysis in adipocytesa	15	2.07 ± 0.22	0.48 to 3.77	15	1.98 ± 0.34	0.37 to 5.08	0.569
Adipokines and HOMA IR
Adiponectin, mg/La	45	9.0 ± 1.0	1.6 to 43.8	64	5.7 ± 0.3	1.7 to 15.1	<0.001
Leptin, ng/mLa	42	7.5 ± 1.2	0.4 to 28.2	65	29.9 ± 2.7	1.3 to 89.1	<0.001
HOMA IRa	48	1.5 ± 0.2	0.0 to 5.6	63	3.6 ± 0.3	0.3 to 12.7	<0.001
MSCA1 and CD36 expression in AT
MSCA1 mRNA in SVF cellsa	59	0.162 ± 0.015	0.031 to 0.648	74	0.176 ± 0.015	0.041 to 0.593	0.509
MSCA1 mRNA in adipocytesa	59	0.114 ± 0.013	0.002 to 0.375	74	0.139 ± 0.009	0.022 to 0.363	0.104
CD36 mRNA in SVF cellsa	55	0.165 ± 0.010	0.053 to 0.292	74	0.124 ± 0.006	0.053 to 0.299	<0.001
CD36 mRNA in adipocytesa	59	0.233 ± 0.014	0.063 to 0.691	74	0.233 ± 0.012	0.058 to 0.600	0.975

Data are presented as mean with standard error of the mean and range. n indicates the number of subjects. Significant P-values (P < 0.05) are indicated in bold. Statistical significance for sex distribution was examined by χ² test. Statistical significance for differences between lean children and children with overweight and obesity was determined by the Student’s t test. Basal lipolysis is given as glycerol release in (ng/mL)/1000 adipocytes.

Abbreviations: AT, adipose tissue; BMI, body mass index; CD36, cluster of differentiation 36; HOMA IR, homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance; hs-CRP, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein; mRNA, messenger RNA; MSCA1, mesenchymal stem cell antigen 1; SDS standard deviation score; SEM, standard error of the mean; SVF, stromal vascular fraction; TNF-α, tumor necrosis factor α;

^a Statistical analyses were performed with log-transformed parameters.