Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Changes in lifestyle have resulted in an increased number of boese subjects, and obesity is currently an important causative factor of health-related problems in Iran.

Aims: To investigate the direct relationship of oxidative stress and antioxidant status with obesity in men.

Materials and methods: We measured the plasma levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) as a marker of oxidative stress and vitamin E, glutathione and superoxide dismutase as antioxidants in 44 obese and 47 no obese men and evaluated their relationship with body mass index (BMI); body fat weight; waist-to-hip ratio (WHR).

Results: Compared with controls, obese men had a significantly higher body mass index (28.97±2.42 vs. 16.03±1.88 kg/m²; P=0.0002) and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (0.89±0.03 vs. 0.80±0.01; P=0.0004); vitamin E, glutathione, superoxide dismutase, vitamin C levels were significantly decreased (all P<0.05), whereas MDA was significantly increased (114.9±21.4 vs. 64.3±14.2 nmol/L; P=0.001). MDA significantly correlated with BMI (r=−0.34 (P=0.004)) and WHR (r=−0.63 (P=0.0001)). We calculated the amount of vitamin E per LDL-cholesterol, total cholesterol and total lipids, we found all of them, significantly lower levels in obese men as compared to controls. There was also a significant correlation between the plasma levels of MDA and vitamin E, vitamin C, glutathione and superoxide dismutase in obese men and all men (all P<0.01).

Conclusion: In brief, these findings showed that the circulating levels of oxidative stress are related to adiposity in men. Although correlation does not prove causation, the results of this study suggest that obesity is an important factor for enhanced oxidative stress and important role of oxidative stress deleterious impact.