The aim of this prospective, follow-up study was to examine the influence of overt hypothyroidism (OHP) and subclinical (SHP), before and during thyroxine (T4) treatment, on lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], other lipoproteins, and apolipoproteins. Twenty-four patients (17 females, 7 males) with OHP, aged 54 +/- 11.1 years (group A) and 23 patients (females) with SHP aged 50.1 +/- 13.2 years (group B) were evaluated and compared to 34 and 38 controls, respectively. All patients received T4 therapy in a stepwise fashion until euthyroidism was reached. Thyrotropin (TSH), free thyroxine (FT4), and total triiodothyronine (TT3) levels were measured before T4 therapy and repeatedly every 4 weeks after the initiation of treatment until the euthyroid state was reached. Levels of Lp(a), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLc), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDLc), apolipoprotein A1 (apoA1) and apolipoprotein B (apoB) were measured before and 4 months after the achievement of euthyroidism. Additionally, body mass index (BMI) was also evaluated. We found that in OHP patients, levels of TC, LDLc, and apoB were elevated before treatment and decreased significantly after the return to the euthyroid state. BMI and levels of triglycerides also decreased significantly; Lp(a) was higher in OHP patients in comparison with controls and decreased significantly by 14.56% (25.29% in men and 10.34% in women) during T4 treatment. In SHP patients, levels of all common lipoproteins, apolipoproteins, and Lp(a) did not differ significantly from controls before treatment and did not change after the euthyroid stage was reached. It is concluded that in overt hypothyroidism, Lp(a) levels and most of the lipoproteins were elevated before treatment and decreased significantly. In subclinical hypothyroidism, lipoproteins and Lp(a) levels were normal at baseline and did not change during treatment.

ObJEctIVE: the aim of this study was to evaluate the levels of adipose tissue related hormones, cytokines, and antioxidative substances in obese women before and after intervention with diet alone or with diet plus an inhibitor of gastrointestinental lipase-orlistat. DEsIGN: seventy-one obese women of childbearing age were included in the study and were randomly assigned into two groups according to the type of intervention: group A1 (n=35) included women who received orlistat as well as a hypocaloric diet, and group A2 (n=36) included women who were only on hypocaloric diet. the intervention period lasted 6 months. Anthropometric parameters, such as body Weight (bW), body Mass Index (bMI), Waist circumference (Wc), and %body fat (bF) were recorded. Insulin, leptin, resistin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα), adiponectin, hsC-reactive protein (CRP), glutathione peroxidase, and isoprostane were determined by appropriate methodology prior to and following the 6-month intervention period. Insulin resistance was measured using the homeostasis model assessment index (HOMA-Ir). All participants had normal glucose tolerance. rEsULts: In both groups bMI values were lower after intervention and all measured parameters were ameliorated. A statistically significant difference was found between group A1 (orlistat plus diet) and group A2 (diet only) with regard to the levels of triglycerides, CRP, TNF-α, IGF-1, and isoprostane, even after correcting for weight loss. cONcLUsION: Hypocaloric diet plus orlistat in obese women is superior to diet alone with regard to the changes observed in adipokines, CRP, TNFα, triglycerides, IGF-1, and oxidative stress following intervention.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the levels of Interleukin-6 (IL-6), glutathione peroxidase and isoprostane in obese women and their association with markers of cardiovascular risk factors before and after weight loss. DESIGN: 36 healthy obese women of reproductive age (group A: age (mean ±SD) 35.4 ± 9.2 years, Body Mass Index (BMI) 38.5±7 kg/m 2 ) and 30 healthy, normal weight women (group B: age mean ±SD 34.9±7.4y., BMI 24±1.1 kg/m 2 ) were included in the study. Glucose tolerance was normal in all participating women. Il-6, glutathione peroxidase and isoprostane, C-Reactive Protein (CRP), insulin, fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-IR as well as the lipid profile were evaluated. Body weight, BMI, Waist to Hip ratio (W/H) ratio, Waist Circumference (WC), %free fat mass and the %fat mass were also measured. A hypocaloric diet was prescribed for the obese women and all participants were re-examined after six months. RESULTS: In obese women after weight loss, anthropometric obesity markers (BMI, W/H ratio), %fat, lipid profile, insulin levels and inflamation indices such as IL-6 and CRP, the oxidative stress index isoprostane, as well as glutathione peroxidase were significantly ameliorated. The levels of serum glutathione peroxidase activity were negatively correlated with IL-6 levels and were significantly increased after weight reduction. In obese women there was an association between IL-6 levels and the values of %fat, %free fat mass, insulin and HOMA-IR before and after weight loss. CONCLUSIONS: Weight loss is related to reduction of oxidative stress and inflammation; this beneficial effect could possibly be translated into reduction of cardiovascular risk in obese individuals.

No abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of overweight, obesity and body mass index (BMI) distribution in people living in large territories of Greece, Serbia and Turkey. A cross-sectional multi-national epidemiological survey was designed on the basis of self-reported information on height and weight using the formula kg/m2. Overall, 20,329 individuals, aged 20-68 yrs, 8,973 males and 11,356 females, participated in the study. Of these, 4,032 were selected from northern Greece, 10,069 from southwest Turkey and 6,228 from central Serbia. More specifically, participants from northern Greece were recruited from central Macedonia, from Southwest Turkey from the Kayseri region and from central Serbia from the greater Belgrade area. Our results showed that 12.4% of the population studied was obese and 31.3% overweight. The corresponding figures for participants from Greece were 19.9% and 35.4%, from Turkey 12.0% and 30.9% and from Serbia 8.2% and 29.4%, respectively. Overall, male participants had a higher mean BMI than females. However, Greek females were more obese in comparison with males. The opposite was true of the other two countries. Finally, in both males and females mean BMI tended to increase with age up to 50-59 years, and declined slightly thereafter. In conclusion, the overall prevalence of obesity and overweight in the Balkan peninsula does not differ from that reported in other European countries. However, BMI values between different countries of the Balkan peninsula are fairly variable, Greece leading in the prevalence of obesity with Serbia having the lowest prevalence of obesity. The data from this survey underline the need for health intervention aimed at preventing obesity, especially in Greece.

OBJECTIVE: To examine possible changes of leptin concentrations after the acute administration of glucose orally (OGTT). DESIGN: Seventy-®ve grams of glucose were administered per os in one group of obese and normal weight individuals and concentrations of glucose, insulin and leptin were measured at 0, 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. In an age matched control group of individuals with similar BMI water was given and leptin concentrations were measured before and after 30, 60, 90 and 120 min. SUBJECTS: Twenty-seven obese women aged 34 AE 1.57 y with BMI 37.1 AE 0.8 kgam 2 and 16 normal weight women, aged 32 AE 1.13 y with BMI 23.6 AE 0.3 kgam 2 formed the experimental group, while 10 obese and 10 normal weight females with similar age and BMI were used as controls. MEASUREMENTS: Weight, height, BMI, body fat, glucose, insulin and leptin at baseline and during OGTT. Variations of the above parameters were calculated from the area under the curve (AUC). RESULTS: Fasting leptin concentrations and AUC were higher in obese than in normal weight women. In obese women, leptin increased signi®cantly in comparison to its basal concentrations 30 and 60 min after the glucose loading. Insulin was also increased, as expected. No correlation was found between insulin and leptin concentrations after glucose loading. Basal concentrations of leptin did not correlate with those of glucose and insulin. No changes in leptin concentrations were found in normal weight women after OGTT. However, a signi®cant positive correlation was found between insulin and basal leptin. Finally, leptin concentrations did not change in obese and normal weight controls after water administration. CONCLUSION: A signi®cant increase in leptin concentrations was found 30 and 60 min after glucose loading in obese individuals. No such increase was found in normal-weight women.

The aim of this large scale epidemiological cross-sectional study was to investigate potential factors, such as age, gender, socioeconomic status (measured as educational level and profession), smoking habits and physical activity, that could influence Body Mass Index (BMI) in a large sample of Greeks of Central Macedonia. Overall, 4032 adults (1296 males and 2736 females), age: 44.3+/-14.5 y (mean +/- SD) participated in this study. Candidates were contacted by phone and provided self-reported data about their age, weight, height, socioeconomic status, smoking habits and physical activity. Our results showed that the mean BMI value was 26.2+/-5 (x+/-SD). Factors associated with BMI were age (positively), physical activity and education level (negatively) in both genders and smoking habits (negatively) only in women. Obesity prevalence was higher in females, and in middle age, in civil employees, less educated and non-smoking subjects of both genders while overweight prevalence was higher in males, and in old age, in less educated and non-smoking subjects of both genders. In conclusion, several environmental factors were found to be associated with obesity or overweight indices in our sample of Greek individuals.

Cytokines are likely to play an important role in auto¬ immune thyroid disease. These molecules are produced by both inflammatory cells and thyroid follicular cells and may affect the latter directly including expression of major histocompatibility complex class II molecules and adhesion mol¬ ecules (1-9).Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a cytokine with neutrophil chemotactic/activating and T-cell chemotactic activity both in vivo and in vitro (10,11)· It is synthesized as a 99-amino acid pre¬ cursor and secreted as a 72-amino acid peptide after succes¬ sive removal of aminoterminal residues. Its known actions include chemotaxis and activation of neutrophils, expression of surface adhesion molecules on neutrophils, angiogenesis (12) and mitogenesis of epidermal (13), melanoma (14), and vascular smooth muscle cells (15). IL-8 has not been investi¬ gated in depth in autoimmune thyroid diseases in humans. We quantitated IL-8 levels in patients with Graves' disease, toxic nodular goiter, and Hashimoto's thyroiditis.We studied 30 thyrotoxic patients (TP) all with elevated free thyroxine (FT4) and suppressed thyrotropin (TSH) lev¬ els (9 males and 21 females; mean age 42.3 ± 11.1; range, 24-65), 20 of whom (6 males and 14 females) had Graves' disease (GD) and 10 toxic nodular goiter (TNG). Patients with GD were identified by the presence of one or more of the following: diffuse uptake of thyroid with 99-technetium scanning, positive thyroid antibodies, and signs of thyroid eye disease. We also studied 16 patients with Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT), (4 males and 12 females; mean age 52.0 ± 13.8; range, 19-77), all with elevated TSH (> 9 µ /mL) and positive thyroid antibodies. Fifteen normal individuals of similar age and gender were used as controls (C).In all patients and controls, IL-8 levels were measured, for which a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used. This assay measures the total amount of free and bound cytokine in serum.The lower limit of detection was 10 pg/mL. All results are expressed as mean ± SD. Data were compared with Stu¬ dent's unpaired t test and correlations between variables within groups were tested by Pearson's correlation test, < 0.05 was accepted as significant.Our results indicated that although mean levels of IL-8 were higher in TP in comparison with C (50.97 ± 42.14 vs. 37.17 ± 41.63) this difference was not statistically significant, most probably due to the high SD. A positive correlation was found between mean IL-8 values and FT4 (p = 0.005). No dif¬ ferences were found in IL-8 levels between GD and TNG subgroups (49.91 ± 41.3 vs. 53.09 ± 45.94), as well as be¬ tween these subgroups and C (49.91 ± 41.3 vs. 37.17 ± 41.63 and 53.09 ± 45.94 vs. 37.17 ± 41.63). No differences were found between TP and HT groups (50.97 ± 42.14 vs. 40.20 ± 29.87). Also, no differences were quantitated concerning IL-8 levels between male and female patients when compared with C (46.08 ± 20.28 vs. 37.17 ± 41.63 and 53.06 ± 48.95 vs. 37.17 ± 41.63, respectively). As far as the HT patients are concerned, w...