Faculty of Health Sciences, Institute of Health, Nutrition and Management, Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences, Postbox 4, St.Olavsplass, 0130, Oslo, Norway.
Genes Nutr. 2013 Jul;8(4):425-34. doi: 10.1007/s12263-012-0329-z. Epub 2013 Jan 8.
Obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m(2)) increases the risk of developing lifestyle-related diseases. A subgroup of obese individuals has been described as "metabolically healthy, but obese" (MHO). In contrast to at-risk obese (ARO), the MHO phenotype is defined by a favourable lipid profile and a normal or only slightly affected insulin sensitivity, despite the same amount of body fat. The objective was to characterize the metabolic phenotype of MHO subjects. We screened a variety of genes involved in lipid metabolism and inflammation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). Obese subjects (men and women; 18-70 years) with BMI ≥30 kg/m(2) were characterized as MHO (n = 9) or as ARO (n = 10). In addition, eleven healthy, normal weight subjects characterized as healthy by the same criteria as described for the MHO subjects were included. We found that with similar weight, total fat mass and fat mass distribution, the ARO subjects have increased plasma levels of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase and free fatty acids. This group also has altered expression levels of a number of genes linked to lipid metabolism in PBMC with reduced gene expression levels of uncoupling protein 2, hormone-sensitive lipase and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor δ compared with MHO subjects. The present metabolic differences between subgroups of obese subjects may contribute to explain some of the underlying mechanisms causing the increased risk of disease among ARO subjects compared with MHO subjects.
肥胖症（BMI≥30kg/m²）会增加罹患与生活方式相关疾病的风险。有一小部分肥胖人群被描述为“代谢健康但肥胖”（MHO）。与高危肥胖人群（ARO）不同，MHO 表型的特征是血脂谱良好，胰岛素敏感性正常或仅略有异常，尽管体脂量相同。本研究旨在描述 MHO 受试者的代谢表型。我们筛选了外周血单核细胞（PBMC）中涉及脂质代谢和炎症的多种基因。筛选出 BMI≥30kg/m²的肥胖受试者（男女；18-70 岁），并将其分为 MHO（n=9）或 ARO（n=10）组。此外，还纳入了 11 名健康、体重正常的受试者，他们通过与 MHO 受试者相同的标准被定义为健康。研究发现，在体重、总脂肪量和脂肪分布相似的情况下，ARO 受试者的血浆γ-谷氨酰转肽酶和游离脂肪酸水平升高。与 MHO 受试者相比，该组 PBMC 中与脂质代谢相关的许多基因的表达水平也发生了改变，解偶联蛋白 2、激素敏感脂肪酶和过氧化物酶体增殖物激活受体 δ的基因表达水平降低。肥胖人群亚组之间的这些代谢差异可能有助于解释 ARO 受试者与 MHO 受试者相比，疾病风险增加的部分潜在机制。
