Proinflammatory cytokines and cardiac abnormalities in uncomplicated obesity: relationship with abdominal fat deposition.

Abstract Background and aim Obesity can be considered a state of chronic, low-grade inflammation. Particularly, visceral adipose tissue (VAT) seems to be an active compartment in pro-inflammatory molecule secretion. The possible existence of a correlation between circulating cytokines, their soluble receptors, abdominal fat accumulation and echocardiographic abnormalities in uncomplicated obesity was investigated. Methods and results Echocardiographic parameters, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), soluble IL-6 receptor (sIL-6-R), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and soluble TNF receptor I (TNFR-I) were assessed in 27 normotensive obese women (age 33.3 ± 8.3 years; BMI 43.5 ± 4.8 kg/m 2 ) and 15 normal-weight controls (age 36.8 ± 8.2 years; BMI 22.6 ± 1.7 kg/m 2 ). VAT was assessed by CT. The obese patients had higher serum IL-6 ( p p p p p p 130 cm 2 than those with 2 . Conclusion In normotensive obese women several pro-inflammatory molecules correlate with both echocardiographic abnormalities and the amount of intra-abdominal fat; these results may support a role for visceral fat in predisposing to cardiac dysfunction, possibly through a low-grade state of inflammation.