The relationship between specific Fatty acids of serum lipids and serum high sensitivity C- reactive protein levels in morbidly obese women.

BACKGROUND/AIMS The fatty acid profile in plasma lipids contributes to the increase of plasma high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), a marker of inflammation and predictor of cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between specific fatty acids (FA) of serum lipids and serum hsCRP in morbidly obese woman. METHODS The study included 16 morbidly obese (mean BMI= 43 ± 2.2 kg/m(2)) non-diabetic woman awaiting bariatric surgery. FA extracted from serum lipids were methylated and analyzed on GC-MS. Commercially available ELISA kits were used to determine the serum inflammatory markers. RESULTS We demonstrated that total saturated FA (SFA) and total monounsaturated FA (MUFA) of serum lipids were positively correlated with serum hsCRP, whereas both n-3 and n-6 total polyunsaturated FA (PUFA) were negatively correlated with serum hsCRP. Serum interleukin-6 correlated positively with some SFA and MUFA, whereas negatively with some of PUFA. Positive correlation between serum hsCRP and specific SFA and MUFA or negative correlation with PUFA decreased with the increased FA chain length. The number and localization of double bonds also had impact on these correlations. CONCLUSION Our findings suggest that individual serum lipid FA levels, depending on the length of FA chain, number and the localization of double bonds are distinctly associated with hsCRP in morbidly obese subjects.