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Advances in Metabolic Phenotypes of Pediatric Obesity

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Endocrinology and Metabolism".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 August 2025 | Viewed by 831

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Department of Diabetes, Nutrition and Metabolic Diseases, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania
Interests: metabolic diseases epidemiology; molecular biomarkers; obesity; diabetes; pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors; insulin resistance; obesity phenotypes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Obesity is the most prevalent metabolic disorder during childhood and adolescence, causing serious short- and long-term adverse health outcomes and comorbidities.

Cardiometabolic phenotypes of obesity in the pediatric population represent different subgroups characterized by specific clinical and biological features, which may influence the response to treatments and the long-term prognosis. However, despite the high prevalence of childhood obesity and atypical obesity phenotypes, the exact etiology is poorly understood and there is still debate regarding the molecular pathways, the biological biomarkers, the diagnostic threshold to apply for identification of the cardiometabolic phenotypes of pediatric obesity, and the optimal therapeutic strategies.

In recent years, new biochemical and molecular biomarkers, such as genetic variants, DNA methylation, specific miRNAs, microbiota and microbial metabolites, metabolomic profiles, and the entero-insular axis, have received great interest in the diagnosis and prognosis of childhood obesity phenotypes.

This Special Issue is dedicated to the impact of the microbiota and genetic, epigenetic and endocrine–metabolic factors on the pathogenesis and diagnosis of pediatric obesity phenotypes. We welcome all studies that help to identify future diagnostic approaches for the detection of cardiometabolic phenotypes related to obesity and that evaluate personalized and effective nutritional and pharmacological strategies for the prevention and management of childhood obesity.

Dr. Simona Georgiana Popa
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cardiometabolic phenotypes of pediatric obesity
  • metabolomic profiles
  • microbiota
  • entero-insular axis
  • adipocytokines
  • precision therapy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

30 pages, 352 KiB  
Review
New Perspectives in Modulating the Entero-Insular Axis in Pediatric Obesity
by Loredana-Maria Dira, Loredana-Maria Marin, Simona-Georgiana Popa, Cristina-Elena Singer, Carmen-Simona Cosoveanu, Ionut Donoiu and Andreea-Loredana Golli
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(13), 6143; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26136143 - 26 Jun 2025
Abstract
A growing global trend of adult obesity and the increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity in children indicate a higher risk in the future of adult diseases related to obesity. Current anti-obesity medications regulate appetite and metabolism by acting either in peripheral tissues or in [...] Read more.
A growing global trend of adult obesity and the increasing prevalence of overweight/obesity in children indicate a higher risk in the future of adult diseases related to obesity. Current anti-obesity medications regulate appetite and metabolism by acting either in peripheral tissues or in the central nervous system. On the other hand, subsequent weight regain is a typical response to weight loss methods, and there is little evidence that current anti-obesity medications can help maintain long-term weight loss without causing a range of undesirable side effects. The combination of anti-obesity drugs targets multiple molecular pathways and structures in the central nervous system that are involved in weight regulation. This systematic review involves trials performed in pediatric populations, published up to 2025 and systematically searched on the ClinicalTrials.gov database, using “Glucagon like peptide-1 analog, Glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonists” as the criterion for the “Intervention/treatment” category. We evaluated the entero-insular axis in pediatric patients with obesity, along with the mechanisms of action and therapeutic potential of the Glucagon like peptide-1receptor agonists. We analyzed incretin hormones and summarized the drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Our objective is to identify new treatment strategies as we improve our understanding of the pathophysiology of obesity and the incretin axis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Metabolic Phenotypes of Pediatric Obesity)
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