People with obesity show higher levels of interleuquina-32, a molecule related to greater inflammation and the development of comorbidities (diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, cardiovascular diseases, different types of cancer ...), according to an elaborate studyFor the specialists of the University of Navarra Clinic, recently published in the specialized scientific journal 'Diabetes'.
"We consider why patients with serious weight problems that are operated by bariatric surgery significantly improve their health status, at the same time that they reduce diseases associated with obesity. Therefore, we decided to start an investigation at the molecular level," he explainsThe Catalan Victoria researcher, specialist from the Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition of the Clinic, and CIBEROBN member (Center for Biomedical Research on the Network of the Carlos III Health Institute).
In the study, conducted in a sample of 90 individuals, patients were classified as thin and obese (within the latter category, divided into diabetics and those with normal glutemic indices).
In this context, specialists investigated which molecules can be involved in favoring the inflammatory process that obese patients have.Thus, the results conclude in the identification of a new molecule, the interleuquina-32, present at very high levels (both in blood and in the visceral adipose tissue) in obese people.
Specialists raise this discovery as a possible therapeutic target that in the future goes through inhibiting this molecule, that is, by reducing interleuquina-32 levels in obese patients, inflammation will decrease, in the same way that associated comorbilities will do soAt overweight.
"Thanks to this study, which began in 2015, we have corroborated the benefits of bariatric surgery for the health of the obese patient," explains Victoria Catalán.
In fact, 80% of operated patients improve and even, in some cases, solve the problems associated with type 2 diabetes and arterial hypertension, according to recent scientific studies.In addition, the problems related to obstructive sleep apnea or joint pathologies such as osteoarthritis decrease."We know that there are various factors involved in why, and we have identified one of them, which is the inflammation at the molecular level, where the Interleuquina-32 seems to participate," adds the specialist.
For his part, Dr. Víctor Valentí, a specialist in general and digestive surgery and co -director of the Obesity Area of the University of Navarra Clinic, adds that this type of surgeries are not performed by "an aesthetic motive, but that the indication is double:Improve the quality of life of obese people and their global health state, reducing the risk of cardiovascular or metabolic complications, among others. "