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3-Month Post-Operative Increase in FGF21 is Predictive of One-Year Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery

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Abstract

Purpose

The association between bariatric surgery outcome and blood levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) remains controversial. Many patients displayed stable or decreased FGF21 one year after bariatric surgery. Nevertheless, there is often an early increase FGF21 concentration in the post-surgery period. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between 3-month FGF21 response and percentage total weight loss at one year after bariatric surgery.

Materials and Methods

In this prospective monocentric study, a total of 144 patients with obesity grade 2–3 were included; 61% of them underwent a sleeve gastrectomy and 39% a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Data analysis was carried out to determine the relation between 3-month plasma FGF21 response and weight loss one year after bariatric surgery. Multiple adjustments were done including degree of weight loss after 3 months.

Results

FGF21 significantly increased between baseline and Month 3 (n = 144, p < 10–3), then decreased between Month 3 and Month 6 (n = 142, p = 0.047) and was not different from baseline at Month 12 (n = 142, p = 0.86). The 3-month-FGF21 response adjusted to body weight loss was not different between types of bariatric surgery. The 3-month-FGF21 response was associated to body weight loss at Month 6 (r = -0.19, p = 0.02) and Month 12 (r = -0.34, p < 10–4). After multiple regression analysis, only Month 12 body weight loss remained associated to 3-month FGF21 response (r = -0.3, p = 0.02).

Conclusion

This study showed that the magnitude of changes in FGF21 at 3 months after bariatric surgery emerged as an independent predictor of one-year body weight loss irrespective of the type of surgery.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unité d’endocrinologie-Diabétologie-Nutrition, CHRU de Tours, 37044, Tours, France

    Arnaud De Luca, Grégoire Fauchier, Hélène Champion & Pierre-Henri Ducluzeau

  2. INSERM UMR 1069, Nutrition, Croissance Et Cancer, 37000, Tours, France

    Arnaud De Luca

  3. Laboratoire de Biochimie Et de Biologie Moléculaire, CHRU de Tours, 37044, Tours, France

    Jean-Baptiste Delaye & Diane Dufour

  4. INRAE, UMR 85 Physiologie de La Reproduction Et Des Comportements, 37380, Nouzilly, France

    Grégoire Fauchier, Guillaume Bourdon, Joëlle Dupont, Pascal Froment & Pierre-Henri Ducluzeau

  5. Unité de Chirurgie Digestive, CHRU de Tours, 37044, Tours, France

    Céline Bourbao-Tournois

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  1. Arnaud De Luca
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  2. Jean-Baptiste Delaye
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Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Key Points

- FGF21 increases after bariatric surgery and decreases after 3 months post-surgery.

- The FGF21 response is negatively associated to weight loss.

- FGF21 could be a predictor of the one-year weight loss after bariatric surgery.

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De Luca, A., Delaye, JB., Fauchier, G. et al. 3-Month Post-Operative Increase in FGF21 is Predictive of One-Year Weight Loss After Bariatric Surgery. OBES SURG 33, 2468–2474 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-023-06702-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-023-06702-3

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