Text Box: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LOWERING OF SERUM¡¡HDL-CHOLESTEROL AND ALTERED FUNCTION OF HDL SUBCLASSES IN MALE CHILDHOOD OBESITY Kuromori Y, Okada T, Hara H, Iwata F, Karasawa K, Ayusawa M, Noto N, Sumitomo N and Harada K Dept. of Pediatrics, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan Objective: To determine whether the lowering HDLC means atherogenic in male childhood obesity. Methods: The subjects consisted of 77 Japanese obese boys, 14.3¡À2.7 years of age, in our outpatient clinics from 1997 to 2000. We measured anthropometry and serum lipoproteins. Serum apolipoprotein measured with turbidimetric immunoassay. HDL2 and HDL3 isolated by ultracentrifugation. Subscapular skinfold thickness was measured using skin caliper, and V/S ratio which indicates abdominal fat accumulation was assessed by computed tomography. Results: HDLC positively correlated with HDL2/HDL3 ratio (r=0.590). HDL2 positively correlated with HDLC (r=0.800), HDL2/HDL3 ratio and ApoAI, but inversely with TG (each value: p<0.01). HDL3 positively correlated with ApoAI, ApoAII and LDLC (each value: p<0.01). The correlation coefficients between HDL2/HDL3 ratio and V/S ratio was -0.578 (p<0.01), and also HDL2/HDL3 ratio inversely correlated with subscapular skinfold thickness (p<0.01). Conclusion: In this study, we confirmed that the lowering of HDLC chiefly depends on HDL2 level in obese children. This fact means disturbance of CE transport from periphery to liver. Especially, strong accumulation of abdominal fat in obesity revealed severe disturbance of HDL metabolism. It is suggested that altered HDL metabolism may be atherogenic in male childhood obesity. 2500