Serum endothelin-1 level among adult Indonesian females with obesity: a nested cross-sectional study from Universitas Gadjah Mada Health and Demographic Surveillance System, Sleman, Indonesia

Background : The increased obesity prevalence is seen among adult Indonesian females. Obesity is linked to increased endothelin-1 levels, which contribute to endothelial dysfunction, in fl ammation and insulin resistance. This study aimed to investigate the association between serum endothelin-1 levels with obesity among Indonesian females. Methods : This was a cross-sectional study. The subjects were from the population of Universitas Gadjah Mada Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Sleman, Indonesia. We collected venous blood, measured obesity parameters and performed the standardized questionnaire for 124 males and females. Endothelin-1 level was measured from serum by ELISA-method. Endothelin-1 level was compared between subjects according to obesity category and correlated with parameters of obesity. Results : There were 124 subjects enrolled, consisting of 70 females and 54 males. Endothelin-1 level was comparable between both sexes. Females had signi fi cantly higher proportion of central obesity compared to males (70.0% vs. 33.3%, p < 0.001). Females with central obesity and increased waist-to-height ratio had a tendency to have higher endothelin-1 levels. Females with body-mass index (BMI)-derived obese class II had the highest level of endothelin-1 (1.98 ± 1.09 pg/ mL), which was signi fi cantly higher compared to obese class I females (1.48 ± 0.35 pg/mL, p ¼ 0.026) and normoweight females (1.53 ± 0.41 pg/mL, p ¼ 0.030). Furthermore, in females, endothelin-1 level was signi fi cantly correlated with waist circumference (r ¼ 0.331, p ¼ 0.005), hip circumference (r ¼ 0.237, p ¼ 0.048), waist-to-hip ratio (r ¼ 0.246, p ¼ 0.040), waist-to-height ratio (r ¼ 0.354, p ¼ 0.003), BMI (r ¼ 0.248, p ¼ 0.038) and body adiposity index (BAI) (r ¼ 0.277, p ¼ 0.020). This correlation was not found among males. Conclusion : Serum endothelin-1 level was signi fi cantly correlated with the parameters of obesity among adult Indo-nesian females.