Insulin resistance, which implies impairment of insulin signaling in the target tissues, is a common cause of type 2 diabetes. Adipose tissue plays an important role in insulin resistance through the dysregulated production and secretion of adipose-derived proteins, including tumor necrosis factor-α, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1, leptin, resistin, angiotensinogen, and adiponectin. Adiponectin was estimated to be a protective adipocytokine against atherosclerosis, and also to have an anti-inflammatory effect. In this …

SUMMARY A neighborhood environment allows defining typical features for physically active or inactive lifestyle. An accelerated pace of life and higher availability of an unhealthy lifestyle increase obesity rates. An analysis of body composition can be used as a predictor for assessment of current somatic conditions. The aim of the study was to determine the dependence of selected body composition parameters on neighborhood walkability in 167 women aged 20–60 years attending weight-loss programme called STOB-courses. A …

Obesity and metabolic syndrome is a worldwide pandemic and associated with high cardiovascular risk. Metabolic endotoxemia (ME) is thought to be an underlying molecular mechanism. It triggers toll-like receptor 4-mediated inflammatory adipokines and causes a chronic low grade inflammatory status, which results in cardiovascular risk increase. Exercise is the best nonpharmacological treatment to improve prognosis. In this study, we examined the circulating endotoxin level in Korean obese women and investigated effects of …

Aims Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an important risk factor for cognitive decline and motor dysfunction due to progressive muscular atrophy. Chronic hyperglycemia may be responsible for impaired vascular function, loss of muscle mass, and morphological abnormalities in the myocytes. For the proper functioning of the neuromuscular system, two crucial growth factors are necessary: brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), whose reduced expressions have been implicated in …

Purpose The interactions between lifestyle and genetic factors play an important role in obesity development. Mutations in melanocortin-4-receptor (MC4R) gene are one of the most common cause of monogenic obesity, however, the functional effects of polymorphic variants near MC4R gene in general populations remain uncertain. The aim of our study was to analyze whether the common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of MC4R gene influence the food preferences, physical activity, body fat content and distribution, as …

The study aims to investigate the effects of education in an obesity‐control program (EOCP) on the percentage of body fat and flexibility in obese women in K orea. Women with over 30% body fat were offered EOCP between J uly 2012 and O ctober 2012. The EOCP consisted of an educational program, exercise program, and counseling. The numbers of participants both in the EOCP and control group were 17. The study was analyzed by Wilcoxon signed‐rank test using the Statistical Analysis System package. The EOCP …

Currently, body mass index (BMI) is frequently used for evaluation of obesity prevalence. This weight to height index does not reflect variability and changes in body composition components, and therefore, the BMI prevalence data may significantly differ from those based on the body fat percentage (% BFM). For the above reason, the primary aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity according to% BFM and relate these data to BMI categories in women aged 55-84 years. 446 females with an …

Interrelationship between C-reactive protein (CRP) and metabolic syndrome (MS) was evaluated in a community-based cohort of 9773 Koreans aged 40–69 years. Metabolic syndrome was defined by criteria of the National Cholesterol Education Program. CRP was measured by validated high-sensitivity assay. The median CRP level was 1.4 mg/1, and significantly increased as the number of components of MS increased (P trend< 0.001). CRP levels were significantly but marginally correlated with waist circumference (r= 0.18) …

Background Low serum albumin concentration is associated with a high risk of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases. However, high serum albumin level appears to be linked to metabolic syndrome (MetS). This study aimed to dissect the relative contributions of baseline and change in serum albumin concentration to the risk of incident metabolic syndrome. Methods This was a 5-year (63,060 person-years) retrospective longitudinal study of 12,567 participants without metabolic syndrome, diabetes, or …

Objective: To investigate the relationship between serum concentrations of the cytokines C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6, and obesity and visceral adiposity. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 100 Korean adults free from pre-existing inflammatory disease or cancer was performed. Body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and serum concentrations of CRP, TNF-α and IL-6 were measured. In 46 obese subjects, fat mass was assessed by bioimpedance analysis and abdominal fat …