Anthropometric, computed tomography and fat cell data in an obese population: relationship with insulin, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, sex hormone-binding globulin and sex hormones

Abstract

Objective: To correlate anthropometric, computed tomography and fat cell data from abdominal regions with the levels of serum insulin, C-peptide, leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a), testosterone, 17b-estradiol, androstenedione, dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate (DHEA-S) and sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). Design and methods: The sample consisted of 84 obese patients (29 men, 22 premenopausal women and 33 postmenopausal women) who had undergone abdominal surgery. Weight, height, percentage of body fat by skinfolds, waist, hip and thigh circumferences, sagittal and coronal diameters, visceral and subcutaneous area, serum hormones and fat cell data were studied. Results and conclusions: Premenopausal women showed the lowest values in most abdominal distribution parameters, although, depending on the waist circumference criteria at the umbilicus level perimeter (W1) or midway between lower rib margin and iliac crest perimeter (W2), the population was classi®ed differently, as gynoid or android. Although there were no differences in fat cell size between genders, gynoid women had smaller and more numerous fat cells than the android type. Perivisceral fat cell size was signi®cantly smaller than subcutaneous fat cell size. In women, central obesity was signi®cantly correlated with an increase in serum insulin, leptin, TNF-a, testosterone and androstenedione levels, and a decrease in 17b-estradiol and DHEA-S, while in men signi®cant correlations were positive with insulin and negative with testosterone and androstenedione. Fat cell size was positively correlated with serum levels of leptin, insulin, DHEA-S, androstenedione and inversely correlated with SHBG. These data indicate that hormones seem to interact not only with body fat distribution but also with fat cell size. This interaction differs between genders and between the different abdominal adipose tissue regions.

The inflammatory receptor CD40 is expressed on human adipocytes: contribution to crosstalk between lymphocytes and adipocytes

“…Like leptin [28,29], the CD40 mRNA level was 45% higher in SAT than in VAT. This could be due to larger fat cells in SAT than VAT [30], in line with the notion that leptin production is correlated with the degree of adipocyte development [31]. Overall these data showed that CD40 expression by the adipocyte is mainly restricted to the late stage of adipocyte differentiation.…”

Prevalence of type 2 diabetes among women with a previous history of gestational diabetes mellitus

“…Previous studies found a lower diastolic blood pressure in the supine position as compared to the sitting position [42,43]. The waist circumference at the level of umbilicus was smaller than that at the midpoint between the lower border of the rib cage and the iliac crest [44] and the BMI was also significantly greater among GDM and SP subjects than among the general population subjects in this study. Moreover, glucose results measured by the Yellow Springs glucose analyser on plasma or serum samples were lower than results from other glucose oxidase methods [45].…”

Clock genes are implicated in the human metabolic syndrome

“…Waist circumference has been described as the best anthropometric index for estimation of visceral fat content. 29,30 Indeed, in the clinical practice, metabolic syndrome is diagnosed in men with a waist perimeter higher than 94 cm plus any two of the following parameters: high serum triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol concentrations, high serum glucose and high blood pressure. 19 Taking this definition into account, the patients studied in the present work suffered from metabolic syndrome.…”