scholarly journals Metabolically Healthy Obesity—Heterogeneity in Definitions and Unconventional Factors

Metabolites ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Inês Brandão ◽  
Maria João Martins ◽  
Rosário Monteiro

The concept of heterogeneity among obese individuals in their risk for developing metabolic dysfunction and associated complications has been recognized for decades. At the origin of the heterogeneity idea is the acknowledgement that individuals with central obesity are more prone to developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease than those with peripheral obesity. There have been attempts to categorize subjects according to their metabolic health and degree of obesity giving rise to different obese and non-obese phenotypes that include metabolically unhealthy normal-weight (MUHNW), metabolically healthy obese (MHO), and metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO). Individuals belonging to the MHO phenotype are obese according to their body mass index although exhibiting fewer or none metabolic anomalies such as type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and/or unfavorable inflammatory and fribinolytic profiles. However, some authors claim that MHO is only transient in nature. Additionally, the phenotype categorization is controversial as it lacks standardized definitions possibly blurring the distinction between obesity phenotypes and confounding the associations with health outcomes. To add to the discussion, the factors underlying the origin or protection from metabolic deterioration and cardiometabolic risk for these subclasses are being intensely investigated and several hypotheses have been put forward. In the present review, we compare the different definitions of obesity phenotypes and present several possible factors underlying them (adipose tissue distribution and cellularity, contaminant accumulation on the adipose tissue, dysbiosis and metabolic endotoxemia imposing on to the endocannabinoid tone and inflammasome, and nutrient intake and dietary patterns) having inflammatory activation at the center.

Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sae Young Jae ◽  
Mercedes Carnethon ◽  
Won Hah Park ◽  
Bo Fernhall

There is conflicting evidence regarding the association between metabolically healthy obese (MHO) and metabolically unhealthy normal weight (MUNW) with incident hypertension and type 2 diabetes. The role of cardiorespiratory fitness on these associations has not been fully explored. We tested the hypothesis that obesity phenotypes predict incident hypertension and type 2 diabetes, but cardiorespiratory fitness modifies these associations in a prospective study of apparently healthy men. 3800 men (mean age 48±6 yrs, range 20-76 yrs) participated in two health examinations during 1998-2009. All subjects were free of hypertension and type 2 diabetes at baseline examination. MHO was defined as obesity (body mass index ≥ 25 kg/m2) with no more than one metabolic abnormality, and MUNW was defined as body mass index < 23 kg/m2) with two or more abnormalities. Cardiorespiratory fitness was directly measured by peak oxygen uptake during a treadmill test. Incident hypertension and type 2 diabetes were defined as blood pressure ≥140/90mmHg and as ≥6.5% of HbA1c or ≥126mg/dl of fasting glucose at second examination, respectively. During an average follow-up of 5 years (1-12 yrs), there were 371 (9.8%) men incident hypertension and 170 (4.5%) men incident type 2 diabetes. MHO and MUNW were present in 844 (22%) and 249 (6.6%) men. Compared with metabolically healthy normal weight men, MHO and MUNW men were at increased risk for hypertension (relative risk (RR) =1.82, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.29-2.56 and 1.75, 1.11-2.74) and type 2 diabetes (RR=3.68, 1.92-7.07 and 5.35, 2.61-10.94), respectively. These risks in MHO and MUNW men were still persisted with adjustment for confounder variables and cardiorespiratory fitness (hypertension=1.57, 1.05-2.34 and 1.59, 1.01-2.51; type 2 diabetes=3.35, 1.63-6.89 and 4.76, 2.32-9.77). Metabolically healthy obese or metabolically unhealthy normal weight men were at increased risk of hypertension and type 2 diabetes compared with metabolically healthy normal weight men. However, these associations were not attenuated by cardiorespiratory fitness or other confounder factors.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zimin Song ◽  
Meng Gao ◽  
Jun Lv ◽  
Canqing Yu ◽  
Yu Guo ◽  
...  

Objectives: To prospectively assess the association of metabolic health status and its transition with incident diabetes risk across body mass index (BMI) categories. Design: Cohort study based on the China Kadoorie Biobank (CKB) Methods: The CKB study enrolled 512,715 adults aged 30-79 years from 10 diverse areas in China during 2004-2008. After exclusion, 432,763 participants were cross-classified by BMI categories and the metabolic status during followed-up for incident diabetes disease. The changes in BMI and metabolic health status were defined from baseline to the second resurvey. Results: Type 2 diabetes risk is higher for metabolically healthy obese (MHO) subjects than metabolically healthy normal weight (MHN) individuals (HR: 3.97, 95% CI: 3.64-3.66), and it is highest for those affected by metabolically healthy obese (MUO) (HR: 6.47, 95% CI: 6.17-6.79). About 15.26% of participants with MHN converted to metabolically healthy overweight or obesity (MHOO), whereas 48.40% of MHOO remained unconverted throughout the follow-up. In obese or overweight people, the conversion from metabolically healthy to unhealthy might increase the chances of developing diabetes as compared to those with a stable metabolic healthy state (HR: 3.70, 95% CI: 2.99-4.59), while those with persistent metabolic disorders are most likely to have diabetes (HR: 8.32, 95% CI: 7.08-9.78). Conclusions: Metabolic healthy is a transient state, and individuals converted from metabolically healthy status to unhealthy phenotypes across all BMI categories might raise the risk of diabetes.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lenore R Rengel ◽  
Brittaney Obi ◽  
Jon Gould ◽  
Matthew Goldblatt ◽  
Andrew Kastenmeier ◽  
...  

Introduction: Peripheral adiposity is associated with better metabolic health and higher plasma adiponectin (ADPN) levels. Since ADPN is secreted mainly by adipose tissue (AT), it is intriguing that higher visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with lower ADPN levels and poor metabolic health. Hypothesis: We hypothesized that various AT depots differ in their ability to secrete ADPN. Methods: Paired AT samples (VAT and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT)) were collected from 19 subjects (10 women, 15 obese) undergoing elective abdominal surgery. The samples were cultured and the supernatant was collected after 24 hours. ADPN levels released into the supernatant from VAT and SAT were measured using multiplex methods. Subjects were defined as obese or non-obese (NO) based on BMI > or ≤ 30kg/m2 respectively. Obese subjects were further classified as metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) or metabolically healthy obese (MHO) based on presence or absence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, or cardiovascular disease at the time of surgery. Results: Mean ADPN secretion levels from SAT and VAT were similar in NO subjects (17.3 ± 3.4 vs. 9.8 ± 13.0 ng/mL/mg, p=0.5) whereas the mean ADPN secretion was lower from VAT among obese subjects (15.9 ± 0.8 vs. 4.5 ± 0.2 ng/mL/mg, p=0.0002). ADPN secretion decreased from VAT (r=-0.16) and increased from SAT (r=0.33) with increased BMI (Fig.1). When MHO and MUO were compared, ADPN secretion from VAT in MHO was reduced only slightly (16.1 ± 8.2 vs. 4.0 ± 2.0 ng/mL/mg, p=0.07) whereas ADPN secretion was significantly reduced in MUO (15.9 ± 5.3 vs. 4.7 ± 4.6 ng/mL/mg, p=0.003). Conclusions: Reduced ADPN secretion from VAT in subjects with increasing BMI may explain lower circulating ADPN levels in obese individuals. Higher ADPN production from SAT and the relatively preserved secretion of ADPN from VAT may explain metabolic health in some obese individuals. Futures studies will help identify factors that control ADPN secretion from AT.


2015 ◽  
Vol 100 (3) ◽  
pp. 934-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chang Hee Jung ◽  
Min Jung Lee ◽  
Yu Mi Kang ◽  
Jung Eun Jang ◽  
Jaechan Leem ◽  
...  

Abstract Objective: This study sought to investigate whether the metabolically healthy obese (MHO) phenotype is associated with an increased risk of incident type 2 diabetes in a Korean population and, if so, whether systemic inflammation affects this risk in MHO individuals. Design and Methods: The study population comprised 36 135 Koreans without type 2 diabetes. Participants were stratified by body mass index (cutoff value, 25.0 kg/m2) and metabolic health state (assessed using Adult Treatment Panel-III criteria). High-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) was used as a surrogate marker of systemic inflammation. Subjects were classified into low (ie, hsCRP &lt; 0.5 mg/L) and high (ie, hsCRP ≥ 0.5 mg/L) systemic inflammation groups. Results: During a median followup of 36.5 months (range, 4.8–81.7 mo), 635 of the 36 135 individuals (1.8%) developed type 2 diabetes. The MHO group had a significantly higher risk of incident type 2 diabetes (multivariate-adjusted hazard ratio [HR], 1.57; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16–2.11) than the metabolically healthy nonobese (MHNO) group. However, the risk of the MHO group varied according to the degree of systemic inflammation. Compared with the MHNO/low systemic inflammation group, the risk of type 2 diabetes in the MHO/low systemic inflammation group was not significantly elevated (multivariate-adjusted HR, 1.61; 95% CI, 0.77–3.34). However, the MHO/high systemic inflammation group had an elevated risk of incident type 2 diabetes (multivariate-adjusted HR, 3.73; 95% CI 2.36–5.88). Conclusions: MHO subjects show a substantially higher risk of incident type 2 diabetes than MHNO subjects. The level of systemic inflammation partially explains this increased risk.


2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Peter Sørensen ◽  
Tina Parkner ◽  
Esben Søndergaard ◽  
Bo Martin Bibby ◽  
Holger Jon Møller ◽  
...  

Monocyte/macrophage-specific soluble CD163 (sCD163) concentration is associated with insulin resistance and increases with deteriorating glycemic control independently of BMI. This led to the proposal of the hypothesis that obesity-associated white adipose tissue inflammation varies between individuals. The objective was to examine the effect of male overweight/obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) on associations between adiposity parameters and sCD163. A total of 23 overweight/obese non-diabetic men, 16 overweight/obese men with T2DM, and a control group of 20 normal-weight healthy men were included. Body composition and regional body fat distribution were determined by whole-body dual X-ray absorptiometry scan and abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan. Serum sCD163 concentrations were determined by ELISA. Associations between adiposity parameters and sCD163 were investigated using multiple linear regression analysis. In the normal-weight healthy men, there was no significant association between adiposity parameters and sCD163, whereas in the overweight/obese non-diabetic men, measures of general and regional adiposity were positively associated with sCD163. In the overweight/obese men with T2DM, only visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and the ratio of VAT to abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), a measure of relative body fat distribution between VAT and SAT depots, were positively associated with sCD163. In a multivariate analysis, including VAT, upper-body SAT, and lower-body fat, adjusted for BMI and age, VAT remained a significant predictor of sCD163 in the overweight/obese T2DM men, but not in the overweight/obese non-diabetic men. Our results indicate that VAT inflammation is exaggerated in men with T2DM, and that propensity to store excess body fat viscerally is particularly detrimental in men with T2DM.


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