LAUSR

Objective: Metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) is a benign condition commonly associated with lower cardiovascular (CV) risk. Adipose tissue might be implicated in this condition through bioactive hormones, so-called adipokines. The aim of this study was to compare cardioprotective (omentin-1, adiponectin) with non-cardioprotective (visfatin, resistin, chemerin) adipokines in MHO versus metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) patients. Design and method: Overall, 200 obese patients were studied (100 MHO and 100 MUO). MHO were those with less than 3 of the following criteria: (1) waist circumference > 102 cm in males or > 88 cm in females, (2) triglycerides > 150 mg/dl or treatment for this abnormality, (3) HDL < 40 mg/dl in males or < 50 mg/dl in females or treatment for this abnormality (4) systolic blood pressure > 130mmHg or diastolic blood pressure > 85mmHg or treatment for hypertension and (5) fasting glucose > 100 mg/dl or treatment for type 2 diabetes mellitus. MUO were those with 3 or more of the above criteria. Adipokines levels were measured by the Elisa method. Results: Omentin-1 and adiponectin were increased in MHO compared to MUO, whereas visfatin, resistin and chemerin were decreased. Statistically significant differences were observed only for omentin-1, visfatin and resistin. Conclusions: In healthy obese patients, cardioprotective omentin-1 was higher while non-cardioprotective visfatin and resistin were lower. This highlights a potential prognostic role of adipose tissue in classifying obese patients at decreased CV risk.