Effect of Obesity on Circulating Adipokines and Their Expression in Omental Adipose Tissue of Female Bariatric Surgery Patients

This chapter is a review of the effects of excessive, formerly known as morbid, obesity on circulating levels and gene expression of adipokines and related factors in the visceral omental adipose tissue of women undergoing bariatric surgery. The current paradigm is that most of the deleterious metabolic effects of excessive obesity are due to Type 2 diabetes and/or hypertension secondary to the mild inflammatory process resulting from visceral adiposity. The visceral adipose tissue, which is primarily omental fat, acts as an endocrine tumor secreting adipokines that result in hypertension and diabetes. These deleterious effects are reversible after bariatric surgery due to a massive reduction in adipose tissue mass.