High-mobility group protein B1 (HMGB1): a new biomarker of metabolic syndrome in obese children

Childhood obesity represents an important risk factor for the development of insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, hypertension and complications such as metabolic syndrome (MS). Increasing evidence suggests that numerous endocrine peptides, interleukins (IL) and cytokines, which are secreted mostly from adipose tissue, play a role in both short and long term energy balance, metabolism and inflammatory response. High-mobility group box 1 protein (HMGB-1), a 30-kDa nuclear and cytosolic ubiquitous protein, is actively secreted by innate immune cells and it has been shown to stimulate necrosis-induced inflammation. Elevated HMGB-1 levels in serum have been found in acute inflammatory conditions such as sepsis and rheumatoid arthritis, but there are no evidences about its role in childhood obesity.