title: [Hormonal alterations on young morbid obese women].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Human obesity is a widespread disease with considerable variability as to its severity, metabolic and endocrine manifestations and etiology. In the present study we have determined whether the alterations of uncomplicated severe obesity in adult young women affect with different intensity the circulating levels of hormones that have been postulated to intervene in the development and maintenance of obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Age-matched 20 morbidly obese (BMI 52.6 [8.3 SD] kg/m2) and 10 normal-weight control women (BMI 19.9 [2.1 SD] kg/m2)were studied and determined the basal circulating levels of hormones and proteins related with the control of body weight.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Obese women showed higher concentrations of insulin and leptin, and lower of cortisol and cortisol-binding globulin (CBG). No significant differences were appreciated for free thyroxine, TSH, free and acylestrone and dehydroepiandrosterone-sulphate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results suggest that morbid obesity implies the alteration of the main hormonal systems controlling the availability of energy and the response to external challenges, with the noteworthy exception of the thyroid. There were clear alterations of insulin and leptin,but cortisol changes could be more related to factors other than obesity. The lower than expected levels of acylestrone point to a possible deficit of this ponderostat signal in obese women. The relatively young age of the women in the study may account for the relative shallowness of the hormonal changes observed.
authors.affiliation: Centre de Recerca en Nutrició i Ciència dels Aliments. Facultad de Biología. Universidad de Barcelona.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vilà
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Luisa Granada
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: María Masanés
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: del Mar Grasa
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Antonio Fernández López
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Remesar
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Formiguera
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Foz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alemany
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006728:Hormones / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D006728:Hormones