Markers of chronic inflammation and obesity: a prospective study on the reversibility of this association in middle-aged women undergoing weight loss by surgical intervention

Abstract

Background: Human adipose tissue expresses and releases proinflammatory cytokines and these measures of chronic inflammation have recently been associated with obesity. Hypothesis: To test whether the proinflammatory state is reversible in subjects undergoing weight loss by surgical measures. Subjects and Methods: Twenty morbidly obese women participated in this prospective study. Subjects were examined for fat mass, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) before and 1 y after Swedish adjustable gastric banding. Results: Anthropometric measures displayed a significant reduction of the body mass index (BMI) from 41.6±5.4 to 30.8±6.1 kg/m² and the fat mass from 53.9±10.3 to 29.8±12.1 kg (mean±s.d.). Hs-CRP levels decreased significantly from 1.33±1.21 mg/dl in pre-gastric banding subjects to 0.40±0.61 mg/dl in post-gastric banding subjects, respectively. IL-6 and TNF-α levels did not differ significantly between pre- and post-gastric banding subjects. Conclusions: We speculate that in these patients the marked reduction in C-reactive protein might be beneficial in reducing their cardiovascular risk and is not solely mediated by IL-6 and TNF-α.