Abstract
Obesity is associated with an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis and atherosclerotic lesions are essentially an inflammatory response. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a medically supervised, multidisciplinary weight loss program on endothelial functions and circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines in obese women. Twenty healthy pre-menopausal obese women and 20 age-matched normal weight women were studied. Endothelial functions were assessed by evaluating the response of blood pressure and platelet aggregation to an intravenous bolus of L-arginine (3 g), the natural precursor of nitric oxide. In obese women, the vascular and rheological responses to L-arginine were significantly lower (p<0.05) at baseline, as compared with non-obese women, indicating endothelial dysfunction; on the contrary, basal concentrations of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were significantly higher (p<0.01). After one year of a multi-disciplinary program of weight reduction consisting of diet, exercise and liposuction surgery, all obese women lost at least 10% of their original weight (10.5±1.7 kg, range 7.9–13.9 kg). Compared with baseline, sustained weight loss was associated with reduction of cytokine (p<0.01) concentrations and with improvement of vascular responses to L-arginine. In conclusion, a multidisciplinary approach aimed at inducing a sustained reduction of body weight in obese women is feasible and is associated with improvement of endothelial functions and reduction of circulating proinflammatory cytokine concentrations.
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Nicoletti, G., Giugliano, G., Pontillo, A. et al. Effect of a multidisciplinary program of weight reduction on endothelial functions in obese women. J Endocrinol Invest 26, RC5–RC8 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03345154
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03345154