Investigating the Relationships of Adipokines and Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors with Normal-Weight Obesity Syndrome Among Women

Background: Normal weight obesity (NWO), known as a syndrome, is characterized by normal weight and body mass index (BMI) but high adipose tissue (more than 30%). Objectives: The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between adipokines and lipid factors as risk factors in cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and NWO syndrome in women. Methods: In this case-control study, anthropometric data were obtained from 20 - 40-year-old women referring to nutrition and diet clinics in Ahvaz, Iran. Then, based on the inclusion criteria, including normal BMI and no physical or mental illness, the subjects were divided into the NWO (body fat percentage (BF%) > 30) group and the non-NWO (BF% < 30) group depending on their BF%. Twenty blood samples were taken from each group, and their chemerin and adipokine serum levels were measured using both the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method with high sensitivity and the sandwich and competitive ELISA techniques. Results: The serum levels of adipokine chemerin and IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), as well as the serum concentrations of triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and total cholesterol, were significantly higher in the NWO group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings of this study indicated a significant correlation between chemerin, adipokines, and lipid factors, as CVD risk factors, and NWO syndrome and fat tissue percentages in women. Therefore, fat tissue measurement is recommended as a more accurate index than BMI in predicting CVDs.