الفهرس 
? ObesityOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Introduction: Over the last few decades there has been a worldwide increase in pediatric obesity affecting both developed and developing countries (Popkin, 2006). Obese children are at increased risk of a number of health problems including diabetes, sleep problems, joint problems, early puberty or menarche, asthma and other respiratory problems.
Aim: To correlate between MMP2 /leptin genes expression and folic acid levels in sera of obese children in order to study the effect of folic acid on methylation of these genes.
Patients and methods: This case control study was conducted on 80 children and adolescents (37 boys and 43 girls), children age range (2-16 years), with simple obesity recruited from National Nutrition Institute, the nutrition clinic. The study was initiated and completed in the period from the June 2015 till October 2016.
Results: The present study included (80) children. They were stratified into (4) groups: group (I): Obese children (12 boys and 18 girls) before starting special diet regimen or folic acid intake (n=30). group (II): Obese children (17 boys and 13 girls) after completing a special diet regimen for 3 months but without folic acid intake (n=30). group (III): Some of group I children who completed folic acid intake and the same diet regimen for 3 months (n=15). group (IV): Age and sex matched children (12 girls and 8 boys) as control group (n=20). No age or sex significant differences were found when we compared the three groups of included children (groups I, II and IV).
Conclusion: Depending on the previous information, MMP-2 and leptin methylation could be important source of information about pathogenesis and complications of childhood obesity.