Abstract
BACKGROUND: Obesity is one of the most common modern health problems worldwide. Proinflammatory cells accumulate in the adipose tissue of the obese, and the presence of a low level chronic inflammation in obesity is associated with the emergence of a range of metabolic disorders in cluding cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, type-2 diabetes, fatty-liver disease, and others. Neutrophils are early parti - cipants in inflammatory processes. After the appropriate stimu lation, these cells release reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, which leads to degranulation and secretion of myeloperoxidase and other enzymes. Myelo per oxidase and its reactive oxidants contribute to tissue damage during inflammatory processes in the human body. METHODS: The study included 175 subjects who were, in com - pliance with the International Diabetes Federation criteria, divided into 3 groups: normal weight subjects (N=106), subjects with abdominal obesity (N=37) and the third group consisted of subjects with the metabolic syndrome (N=32). RESULTS: By analyzing the myeloperoxidase enzyme activity (kU/L), and the levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in the blood of all subjects, we detected their significantly higher activity and levels in subjects with the metabolic syndrome, as compared to normal weight subjects (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Based on our results, we can conclude that the MPO activity in the serum progressively increases with obesity and the metabolic syndrome, which indicates that this prooxidant enzyme may play a role in the pathophysiological mechanisms of the obesity and the metabolic syndrome related complications.