Lipid profile and cardiometabolic risk factors in individuals with obesity – Brazuca Natal study
obesity, cardiometabolic risk, lipidomics by 1H-NMR.
Obesity is a multifactorial condition, and it is currently one of the main public health issues. Studies involving lipidomic point to an association between obesity and dysfunction of lipid metabolism, and the consequent development of associated metabolic diseases. This study aims to evaluate the lipidomic profile and cardiometabolic risk factors of adults and elderly subjects with and without obesity. This is a cross-sectional study, part of a larger study called “Food insecurity, health and nutrition in adults and elderly persons in a city of Northeast in Brazil: Natal BRAZUCA Study”, a population-based study, carried out with adults and elderly residents in Natal/RN. The sample consisted of 72 individuals matched by sex and age in two groups, with and without obesity (n=36 each). The following data were collected: sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, presence of chronic noncommunicable diseases, energy intake, total fat, monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fatty acids, anthropometric measurements (body mass index (BMI), waist circumference), visceral adiposity index and blood pressure. Blood samples were collected for biochemical analysis (lipid, glycemic and inflammatory profiles) and lipidomic analysis, which was performed in plasma using the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique. It was identified that 73.6% of the individuals had dyslipidemia and the average intake of saturated fatty acids was higher than desired (>7%) while the intake of monounsaturated fatty acids was below the target (15%). It was observed that 72.2% of the participants with obesity had metabolic syndrome (p=0.004), higher waist circumference (p<0.001), visceral adiposity index (p=0.029), HOMA-IR (p=0.010) and triglycerides (TAG) (p=0.018), compared to the group of nonobese individuals. Diffusion-edited 1H-NMR spectra indicate characteristic peaks for low and medium polarity lipids, mostly attributed to triacylglycerols of saturated fatty acids and, in a smaller amount, unsaturated fatty acids groups (-CH=CH-). Using the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis model (OLPS-DA), a behavior with more dispersions of lipid metabolites was observed in the group of obese individuals. Among the lipids with the highest values of variables importance projection (VIP), only six metabolites had lower concentrations among individuals in the obese group, namely phosphatidylcholines, saturated and unsaturated fatty acid residues. A lower amount of polyunsaturated fatty acids was also observed in the lipid profile of the obese group. These findings point to changes in the lipidomic profile of obese individuals, suggesting that lipid species may be potential biomarkers to early identify individuals at risk of presenting obesity-induced metabolic complications.