Association between interleukin 1β and interleukin 10 concentrations: a cross-sectional study in young adolescents in Taiwan

Background: In adults, low circulating interleukin 10 (IL10) has been associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, studies investigating IL10 in overweight and obese children have yielded conflicting results. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with serum IL10 concentration in young Chinese adolescents. Methods: Young adolescents (n=325) ages 13.33+/-1.10 years were recruited into the cross-sectional study from 2010 to 2011. Parameters of obesity, individual components of MetS, iron status and serum IL10 were evaluated. Results: Compared with their normal weight counterparts, overweight adolescents had lower serum IL10 but higher TNF alpha, nitric oxide (NO) and IL1 beta concentrations (all p<0.05). Obese adolescents had increased IL1 beta but decreased hepcidin concentration compared with normal weight (p<0.01 and p<0.05; respectively). A strong inverse relationship (p<0.0001) was found between IL10 and pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF alpha and IL1 beta). Multivariate linear regression analysis showed serum IL1 beta was significantly correlated with IL10 (beta=-0.156, p<0.0001). When overweight and obese adolescents were assessed separately from normal weight, only IL1 beta was inversely associated with serum IL10 (beta=-0.231, p=0.0009). The association between IL10 and IL1 beta was weaker in adolescents with normal weight (beta=-0.157, p=0.0002), after adjusting for gender, TNF alpha, IFN gamma and NO. Conclusions: Our study confirmed that low IL10 concentration is associated with overweight and obesity in young adolescents. We also demonstrated for the first time that pro-inflammatory cytokine IL1 beta is independently associated with IL10. A decline in IL10 concentration in overweight and obese adolescents may further contribute to the IL1 beta-mediated inflammatory environment associated with obesity.