Visfatin levels in female, morbid, nondiabetic obese patients after biliopancreatic diversion surgery.

BACKGROUND

Visfatin was recently identified as a protein preferentially expressed in visceral adipose tissue. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the changes in serum visfatin levels after biliopancreatic diversion and the association of the changes observed with other parameters in morbidly nondiabetic obese women.

METHODS

A sample of 27 morbidly obese women (body mass index >40 kg/m(2)) were operated. The biochemical and anthropometric parameters were measured at the initial visit and 1 year after surgery. The frequency of patients with hypertension and hyperlipidemia was recorded at 1 year.

RESULTS

The mean patient age was 46.0 ± 13.0 years, and the mean preoperative body mass index was 46.3 ± 13.1 kg/m(2). The body mass index, weight, waist circumference, fat mass, blood pressure, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol had decreased significantly. The visfatin levels did not change after surgery (5.70 ± 1.84 ng/mL versus 6.12 ± 1.68 ng/mL; P = NS). The correlation analysis showed a positive association between the baseline visfatin and total cholesterol level (r = 0.49; P <.01).

CONCLUSION

The massive weight reduction 1 year after biliopancreatic diversion was not associated with a significant change in the circulating visfatin levels in morbidly obese women.