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High Leptin/Adiponectin Ratio and Serum Triglycerides Are Associated With an “At‐Risk” Phenotype in Young Severely Obese Patients
Author(s) -
Labruna Giuseppe,
Pasanisi Fabrizio,
Nardelli Carmela,
Caso Rosanna,
Vitale Dino F.,
Contaldo Franco,
Sacchetti Lucia
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
obesity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.438
H-Index - 199
eISSN - 1930-739X
pISSN - 1930-7381
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2010.309
Subject(s) - adiponectin , medicine , endocrinology , insulin resistance , leptin , adipokine , body mass index , obesity , insulin , population , ghrelin , hormone , environmental health
“At‐risk” severely obese subjects are characterized by insulin resistance, and higher visceral fat and plasma lipid levels compared with metabolically healthy obese (MHO) subjects, although both groups have a high BMI and fat mass. The aim of this study was to measure several serum adipokines and gastrointestinal hormones in a young severely obese population from Southern Italy to identify biochemical markers of the “at‐risk” insulin‐resistant obese profile. We studied 160 unrelated white young adults (mean age = 25.2 years, mean BMI = 44.9 kg/m 2 , 65% women) affected by obesity for at least 5 years. Serum concentrations of glucagon, ghrelin, gastric inhibitory peptide, glucagon like peptide‐1, interleukin‐6, tumor necrosis factor α, leptin, adiponectin, adipsin, and visfatin were measured. The leptin/adiponectin (L/A) ratio and fatty liver index (FLI) were calculated. We found a prevalence of 21.3% of MHO patients in our young severely obese patients. At univariate analysis, the “at‐risk” group had higher mean levels of BMI ( P < 0.0001), leptin ( P = 0.039, men) and the L/A ratio ( P = 0.003), and lower mean levels of visfatin ( P = 0.026) than the MHO group. The L/A ratio, serum triglycerides, and male sex were significantly associated with “at‐risk” obesity and accounted for 19.5% of insulin resistance at multivariate analysis. In conclusion, we demonstrate that a high serum L/A ratio and high levels of serum triglycerides may be markers of “at‐risk” obesity, independent of waist circumference (WC) and BMI, in young severely obese population.