The Association between Certain Proinflammatory Biomarkers and Body Composition in a Group of Overweight Students at the University of Jordan.

The objectives of this study were to determine the circulatory levels of proinflammatory biomarkers including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-), and high sensitivity-C reactive protein (hs-CRP) in a group of overweight (OWT) and normal body weight (NWT) students, and to examine their association with adiposity assessed by using classical anthropometric measurements and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). A case-control study was conducted among 90 (45 OWT and 45 NWT) students (1825 years) recruited from all faculties of the University of Jordan, Jordan. Height, weight, Waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) were measured using standard procedures, whereas percent fat mass (%FM) and percent fat free mass (%FFM) were determined using BIA. Serum levels of the examined proinflammatory biomarkers were also determined. Results showed that mean concentration of hs-CRP (0.79 ±0.85) and IL-6 (7.72 ±2.31) in OWT were significantly higher than that in NWT counterparts (0.45 ±0.52, 6.38 ±1.37; respectively, P<0.05); whereas no significant differences were observed in the mean concentration of IL-1β and TNF- between the two groups. CRP was significantly associated with BMI (r=0.538, P<0.01), weight (r=0.445, P<0.01), waist circumference (r=0.440, P<0.01), waist-to-hip ratio (r=0.229, P<0.05), and %FM (r=0.266, P<0.05). Whereas, IL-6 was positively correlated with %FM in males (r=0.306, P<0.05) and negatively correlated with %FFM in females (r=-0.297, P<0.05). No significant association was observed between any of the body composition measurements and IL-1β and TNF-α. In conclusion, progressive increase in body fat is responsible for the activation of the immune system even before reaching the obesity stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]