Direct association between obesity class and levels of inflammatory markers in a representative US population
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Excess adipose tissue is associated with low-grade systemic inflammation which is thought to contribute to risk of macrovascular complications. This study aimed to investigate the association between obesity class and levels of systemic inflammatory markers in subjects participating in the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). To this end, biomarker levels were assessed across different body mass index (BMI)-defined weight classes: normal weight, overweight, and obesity classes 1, 2, and 3. When taking C-reactive protein (CRP) levels for normal-weight subjects as reference, CRP levels almost doubled with each increase in weight class. Furthermore, when taking normal-weight subjects as reference, fibrinogen levels increased with increasing weight class and were highest for obesity class 3 subjects. Compared to subjects without hypertension and diabetes, those with hypertension and diabetes had higher levels of fibrinogen and CRP, even after stratification for BMI. In conclusion, there appears to be a direct association between increasing obesity class and the presence of obesity-related comorbidities, such as diabetes and hypertension, with high levels of inflammatory markers.
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