Background The interaction of adropin,glucagon-like peptide-2(GLP2),angiopoietin-like protein 4(ANGPTL4),and with childhood obesity and glucose metabolism is inconsistent.This study is to evaluate the association of the three cytokines and glucose homeostasis.Methods This was a cross-sectional study of children with obesity ranging from 5 to 14 years compared to age-and sex-matched children of normal weight.Fasting plasma glucose(FPG),oral glucose tolerance test 2-hour plasma glucose(OGT-T2hPG),and insulin(INS)were measured,and serum adropin,GLP2,and ANGPTL4 1evels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.The body mass index(BMI),BMI-Z scores,waist-to-hip ratio(WHR),and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance(HOMA-IR)were calculated.Results Thirty-nine children(9.70 ± 1.71 years,18 females)with obesity and 29 normal weight children(8.98 ± 1.98 years,16 females)were assessed.The levels of INS,HOMA-IR and GLP2 of the obesity group were significantly higher than the controls(P ＜ 0.05).Pearson correlation analysis showed that serum GLP2 was positively associated with WHR,FPG,and OGTT2hPG,and adropin was negatively associated with BMI,BMI-Z,WHR,INS,and HOMA-IR(all P ＜ 0.05).Further-more,GLP2 were negatively associated with adropin and ANGPTL4(both P ＜ 0.05).By binary logistic regression,adropin and GLP2 were found to be independent markers of obesity.Multiple linear regression showed that GLP2 was associated with OGTT2hPG,and adropin was associated with INS and HOMA-IR(all P ＜ 0.05).Conclusions Obese children had elevated GLP2 concentrations,and adropin and GLP2 associated with both childhood obesity and glucose homeostasis.Furthermore,there may be a physiologic interplay between adropin and GLP2 in obese children.