[Body weight fluctuation in obese women and atherogenesis risk factors].

BACKGROUND

Hitherto published experimental and clinical studies provide controversial findings as regards the relations of risk factors of atherogenesis and ischaemic heart disease and variations of body weight. The objective of the present study was to find out whether variations of body weight in women with severe obesity influence the incidence of some other risk factors of atherogenesis.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Two groups of obese women were examined. The group described as "weight cyclers" comprised 29 women where repeated variations of body weight were recorded, whereby at least two cycles of weight loss and subsequent gain were higher than 10 kg. The mean age of the group was 40.6 +/- 1.6 years, the body weight 113.0 +/- 4.2 kg, the body mass index (BMI) 39.88 +/- 1.48, the mean number of weight cycles (< 10 kg) was 2.38 +/- 0.11. The second group described as "non-weight cyclers" comprised 55 women whose body weight change, with the exception of pregnancy, at the age above 20 years did not exceed 5 kg. The mean age of this group of women was 38.5 +/- 2.1 years, the body weight 110.4 +/- 2.9 kg and BMI 39.31 +/- 0.98. The anthropometric indicators--ratio of lean body mass, the waist/hip ratio, the waist/thigh ratio, the sagittal diameter at the L4/L5 level did not differ in the two groups: an exception was only the centralization index which differed at the borderline of statistical significance (p < 0.05). The values of other risk factors are as follows: (the first figure refers to the "weight cyclers"). Systolic blood pressure 135.0 +/- 2.5 mmHg and 135.9 +/- 2.4 mmHg resp., diastolic blood pressure 86.1 +/- 1.7 mmHg and 86.2 +/- 1.5 mmHg resp., fasting serum insulin (IRI) 22.2 +/- 3.5 mU/l and 26.2 +/- 2.4 mU/l resp., the fasting blood sugar level 5.30 +/- 0.17 mmol/l and 5.48 +/- 0.16 mmol/l, total cholesterol 5.29 +/- 0.17 mmol/l and 5.53 +/- 0.13 mmol/l, HDL-cholesterol 1.40 +/- 0.05 mmol/l and 1.30 +/- 0.04 mmol/l, triacylglycerols 1.92 +/- 0.22 mmol/l and 2.10 +/- 0.22 mmol/l. The serum concentrations of free fatty acids (at 7.00 a.m., 1.00 p.m., 9 p.m.) did not differ in the two groups: 0.790 +/- 0.058 mmol/l and 0.772 +/- 0.060 mmol/l at 7.00 a.m., 0.621 +/- 0.066 mmol/l and 0.641 +/- 0.051 mmol/l resp. at 1.00 p.m., 0.730 +/- 0.066 mmol/l and 0.810 +/- 0.061 mmol/l resp. at 9.00 p.m.

CONCLUSIONS

The increased flow of free fatty acids from intraabdominal fat depots is considered to be one of the factors mediating metabolic complications in the android type of obesity. Therefore the absence of any difference in fasting free fatty acid levels in both groups of investigated obese women suggests that variations in body weight do not participate in the increased risk of development of metabolic complications in women with severe obesity. Marked variations in body weight in women with severe obesity do not influence the incidence of the risk factors of atherogenesis.