Gender-related characteristics of bioelement status in Siberian adolescents with obesity

Objective. To identify the gender-related characteristics of bioelement status in Siberian adolescents with obesity. Patients and methods. The study included 240 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years living in the Siberian Region, predominantly in Irkutsk. The adolescents participating in the study were divided into groups with exogenous constitutional obesity (23 boys and 99 girls) and control groups with normal body weight (34 boys and 84 girls). Adolescents in the study and control groups were comparable in terms of age and presence of comorbidities. Parameters of bioelement homeostasis were determined by serum biochemistry and included the measurement of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, chlorine, copper, zinc, and iron. Results. The analysis revealed the following serum values in Siberian adolescents relative to the reference range: in boys, the levels of magnesium were elevated by 3.65%, zinc – by 3.83%, phosphorus concentrations were decreased by 1.57%; in girls, the content of sodium was elevated by 0.27%, magnesium – by 7.31%, zinc – by 11.73%, calcium concentrations were decreased by 0.86%. In the presence of obesity, boys demonstrated an increase in phosphorus concentrations (p = 0.0001), while girls showed mixed bioelementosis in the form of elevated phosphorus concentrations (p = 0.001), decreased zinc (p = 0.039) and iron (p = 0.043). Gender-related differences in obese adolescents included higher potassium levels in males (p = 0.033). Conclusion. The prevention and correction of bioelement homeostatic disorders in the presence of obesity in Siberian adolescents requires a gender-differentiated approach. Key words: bioelements, gender differences, obesity, nutrition, adolescents