PROFILE OF BIOMARKERS IN EARLY-STAGE PEDIATRIC ENDOCRINE DISORDERS: A CLINICAL CORRELATION STUDY
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.71000/5xtabf35Keywords:
Adrenal insufficiency, Biomarkers, Child, Endocrine system diseases, Growth disorders, Hypothyroidism, , Puberty disordersAbstract
Background: Early-stage endocrine disorders in children often present with vague or nonspecific symptoms, making timely diagnosis challenging. Biomarkers offer a promising avenue for early detection and risk stratification by correlating biological changes with clinical presentations.
Objective: To evaluate the relationship between specific biomarkers and early clinical features in children with suspected endocrine disorders.
Methods: This clinical correlation study was conducted over eight months at tertiary care hospitals in Lahore, Pakistan, enrolling 150 children aged 2–14 years who exhibited symptoms suggestive of endocrine dysfunction. Clinical assessments included anthropometry, pubertal staging, and symptom profiling. Biochemical analysis measured serum IGF-1, TSH, cortisol, LH/FSH, and anti-TPO using ELISA and chemiluminescence assays. Statistical analyses included Pearson correlation, t-tests, ANOVA, and multivariate regression models adjusted for age, sex, and BMI.
Results: Short stature was significantly associated with low IGF-1 (45.2 ± 12.1 ng/mL, p < 0.001), weight gain with elevated TSH (7.8 ± 2.3 µIU/mL, p < 0.01), and fatigue with reduced cortisol levels (6.2 ± 1.9 µg/dL, p = 0.02). Pubertal abnormalities were linked to LH/FSH deviations (p < 0.05), while anti-TPO elevation correlated with general malaise (p = 0.006). IGF-1 showed the strongest positive predictive value in multivariate analysis (β = 0.62, p < 0.001).
Conclusion: Distinct biomarker patterns correlate significantly with early clinical signs of pediatric endocrine disorders. Incorporating biomarker profiling may enhance early detection and guide targeted intervention strategies.
References
Ojanen X, Cheng R, Törmäkangas T, Rappaport N, Wilmanski T, Wu N, et al. Towards early risk biomarkers: serum metabolic signature in childhood predicts cardio-metabolic risk in adulthood. EBioMedicine. 2021;72:103611.
Angelopoulou E, Kitani RA, Stroggilos R, Lygirou V, Vasilakis IA, Letsou K, et al. Tear Proteomics in Children and Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes: A Promising Approach to Biomarker Identification of Diabetes Pathogenesis and Complications. Int J Mol Sci. 2024;25(18).
Shah AK, Yadav BK, Suri A, Shah AK. A study on lipoprotein-a and PAI-1 in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Horm Mol Biol Clin Investig. 2022;43(3):357-61.
Bedoya-Reina OC, Li W, Arceo M, Plescher M, Bullova P, Pui H, et al. Single-nuclei transcriptomes from human adrenal gland reveal distinct cellular identities of low and high-risk neuroblastoma tumors. Nat Commun. 2021;12(1):5309.
Yi N, Zhao X, Ji J, Xu M, Jiao Y, Qian T, et al. Serum galectin-3 as a biomarker for screening, early diagnosis, prognosis and therapeutic effect evaluation of pancreatic cancer. J Cell Mol Med. 2020;24(19):11583-91.
Pilli T, Dalmazio G, Porcelli B, Cantara S, Tabucchi A, Pini A, et al. Screening of Organ-Specific Autoantibodies in a Large Cohort of Patients with Autoimmune Thyroid Diseases. Thyroid. 2021;31(9):1416-23.
Hassanein SA, Hassan MM, Samir M, Aboudeif MO, Thabet MS, Abdullatif M, et al. The role of Cardiotrophin-1 and echocardiography in early detection of subclinical diabetic cardiomyopathy in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. J Pediatr Endocrinol Metab. 2024;37(10):875-84.
Ortiz-Martínez M, González-González M, Martagón AJ, Hlavinka V, Willson RC, Rito-Palomares M. Recent Developments in Biomarkers for Diagnosis and Screening of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Curr Diab Rep. 2022;22(3):95-115.
Abo Hola AS, Abd El Naby SA, Allam ET, Gab Allah AA, Hammad DA. Promising predictors of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Ital J Pediatr. 2024;50(1):215.
Dayan CM, Besser REJ, Oram RA, Hagopian W, Vatish M, Bendor-Samuel O, et al. Preventing type 1 diabetes in childhood. Science. 2021;373(6554):506-10.
Boyd LNC, Ali M, Comandatore A, Garajova I, Kam L, Puik JR, et al. Prediction Model for Early-Stage Pancreatic Cancer Using Routinely Measured Blood Biomarkers. JAMA Netw Open. 2023;6(8):e2331197.
Kostopoulou E, Kalavrizioti D, Davoulou P, Plotas P, Sinopidis X, Papachristou E, et al. The possible role of serum NGAL and MMP-9 in the assessment of kidney impairment and cardiovascular risk in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus or obesity. Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci. 2024;28(21):4536-45.
Zhang ZW, Guo X, Qi XP. Molecular Diagnosis and Treatment of Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2B in Ethnic Han Chinese. Endocr Metab Immune Disord Drug Targets. 2021;21(3):534-43.
Hutny M, Hofman J, Zachurzok A, Matusik P. MicroRNAs as the promising markers of comorbidities in childhood obesity-A systematic review. Pediatr Obes. 2022;17(6):e12880.
Liu Y, Dong G, Huang K, Hong Y, Chen X, Zhu M, et al. Metabolomics and Lipidomics Studies in Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes: Biomarker Discovery for the Early Diagnosis and Prognosis. Pediatr Diabetes. 2023;2023:6003102.
Redondo MJ, Nathan BM, Jacobsen LM, Sims E, Bocchino LE, Pugliese A, et al. Index60 as an additional diagnostic criterion for type 1 diabetes. Diabetologia. 2021;64(4):836-44.
Rold LS, Jensen AM, Arenholt L, Leutscher PDC, Ovesen PG, Hagstrøm S, et al. Identifying microbiome-based changes and biomarkers prior to disease development in mother and child, with a focus on gestational diabetes mellitus: protocol for the DANish Maternal and Offspring Microbiome (DANMOM) cohort study. BMJ Open. 2024;14(9):e083358.
Masoodi M, Shah ZA, Beigh AH, Ahmad SZ, Mir AW, Yasin B, et al. Galectin-1 as a predictive biomarker in ovarian cancer. J Ovarian Res. 2021;14(1):123.
Mamilly L, Mastrandrea LD, Mosquera Vasquez C, Klamer B, Kallash M, Aldughiem A. Evidence of Early Diabetic Nephropathy in Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2021;12:669954.
Singh A, Gupta S, Badarukhiya JA, Sachan M. Detection of aberrant methylation of HOXA9 and HIC1 through multiplex MethyLight assay in serum DNA for the early detection of epithelial ovarian cancer. Int J Cancer. 2020;147(6):1740-52.
Weinhofer I, Rommer P, Gleiss A, Ponleitner M, Zierfuss B, Waidhofer-Söllner P, et al. Biomarker-based risk prediction for the onset of neuroinflammation in X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy. EBioMedicine. 2023;96:104781.
Bebars GM, Mostafa AN, Moness HM, Aziz RAA. Assessment of early kidney injury caused by asymptomatic bacteriuria in children with type 1 diabetes. BMC Pediatr. 2022;22(1):643.
Saliyeva S, Boranbayeva R, Bulegenova M, Beloussov V. Application of microRNAs in the diagnosis and monitoring of pediatric germ cell tumors: Kazakh experience. Pediatr Hematol Oncol. 2024;41(2):121-34.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Hamza Zulfiqar, Shaikh Khalid Muhammad, Tanveer Rasool, Hafiza Samin Anjum, Rida Riaz, Hafzah Shah, Silwat Tarar (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
