Obesity impairs leukocyte‐endothelium cell interactions and oxidative stress in humans

Abstract

Background:To evaluate the relationship between leukocyte‐endothelial cellinteractions and oxidative stress parameters in non‐diabetic patients with differentgrades of obesity.Material and methods:For this cross‐sectional study, 225 subjects wererecruited from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2016 and divided into groupsaccording to BMI (<30 kg/m2,30‐40 kg/m2and >40 kg/m²). We determined clin-ical parameters, systemic inflammatory markers, soluble cellular adhesion mole-cules, leukocyte‐endothelium cell interactions—rolling flux, velocity and adhesion—, oxidative stress parameters—total ROS, total superoxide, glutathione—andmitochondrial membrane potential in leukocytes.Results:We verified that HOMA‐IR and hsCRP increased progressively as obe-sity developed, whereas A1c, IL6 and TNFαwere augmented in the BMI > 40kg/m² group. The cellular adhesion molecule sP‐selectin was increased in patientswith obesity, while sICAM, total ROS, total superoxide and mitochondrial mem-brane potential were selectively higher in the BMI > 40 kg/m² group. Obesityinduced a progressive decrease in rolling velocity and an enhancement of rollingflux and leukocyte adhesion.Conclusion:Our findings reveal that endothelial dysfunction markers are alteredin human obesity and are associated with proinflammatory cytokines andincreased oxidative stress parameters.