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Bariatric Surgery Can Correct Iron Depletion in Morbidly Obese Women: A Link with Chronic Inflammation

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Abstract

Background

Obesity is associated with a chronic and low-grade inflammation which may cause hypoferremia as seen in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between iron status and markers of inflammation in morbidly obese women and the effect of bariatric surgery.

Methods

Our cohort of patients consisted of 178 morbidly obese females selected for bariatric surgery. Clinical and biochemical data were recorded before surgery, and histopathological studies were carried out on preoperative liver biopsy samples. Fifty-five patients have been followed up after bariatric surgery.

Results

A high prevalence of iron depletion was present in this cohort, with 53% having a transferrin saturation ratio below 0.20. Iron depletion was significantly correlated with raised levels of indices of inflammation, C-reactive protein (CRP), orosomucoid and haptoglobin), and with the white blood cell count. In multivariate analysis, orosomucoid and CRP were independently associated with iron depletion. Moreover, 6 months after bariatric surgery, inflammation level decreased, which was inversely correlated with the increase in transferrin saturation.

Conclusions

Iron depletion is common in morbidly obese women. Low-grade chronic inflammation associated with obesity could be a modulator of iron uptake and utilization. Bariatric surgery may reduce chronic inflammation and improve iron status.

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Acknowledgments

The help of Dr. E Marine-Barjoan for the statistical analysis of the data is greatly acknowledged.

This work was supported by grants from the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (France) (ANR-05-PCOD-025-02 and PNRHGE to PG), the University of Nice, the Programme Hospitalier de Recherche Clinique, the Comité Doyen Jean Lépine (Nice, France) and the French Research Ministery (ACI JC5327, to PG). This work is part of the project “Hepatic and adipose tissue and functions in the metabolic syndrome” (HEPADIP, see http://www.hepadip.org/), which is supported by the European Commission as an Integrated Project under the 6th Framework Programme (Contract LSHM-CT-2005-018734). RA was successively supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (France), the APPERT institute (Paris, France) and Nestlé Nutrition (Paris, France). YLMB and PG were recipient of Interface Hospital Grant from CHU de Nice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM, U568, Nice, 06107, France

    Rodolphe Anty, Philippe Gual, Nathalie Luciani, Marie-Christine Saint-Paul, Pierre-Michel Huet, Jean-Louis Sadoul, Jean Gugenheim, Yannick Le Marchand-Brustel, Albert Tran & Soumeya Bekri

  2. Pôle digestif, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, Nice, 06202, France

    Rodolphe Anty, Monsef Dahman, Antonio Iannelli, Aline Staccini-Myx, Imed Ben Amor, Pierre-Michel Huet, Jean Gugenheim, Yannick Le Marchand-Brustel & Albert Tran

  3. Université de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, Faculté de Médecine, Nice, 06107, France

    Rodolphe Anty, Philippe Gual, Marie-Christine Saint-Paul, Pierre-Michel Huet, Jean-Louis Sadoul, Jean Gugenheim, Yannick Le Marchand-Brustel, Albert Tran & Soumeya Bekri

  4. Pôle biologie Pathologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, Nice, 06107, France

    Marie-Christine Saint-Paul

  5. Pôle Gynécologie, Endocrinologie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice, BDR, Nice, 06202, France

    Jean-Louis Sadoul

  6. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, UCL, London, UK

    Surjit Kaila S. Srai

  7. Centre for Nephrology and Department of Physiology, Royal Free and University College Medical School, UCL, London, UK

    Robert Unwin

  8. Pôle biologie, Centre Hospitalier de Rouen, Rouen, 76031, France

    Soumeya Bekri

  9. Laboratoire de Biochimie Hôpital Charles Nicolle, 76031, Rouen, France

    Soumeya Bekri

Authors
  1. Rodolphe Anty
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  2. Monsef Dahman
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  4. Philippe Gual
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  5. Aline Staccini-Myx
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  6. Imed Ben Amor
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  7. Nathalie Luciani
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  8. Marie-Christine Saint-Paul
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  9. Pierre-Michel Huet
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  10. Jean-Louis Sadoul
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  11. Surjit Kaila S. Srai
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  12. Robert Unwin
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  13. Jean Gugenheim
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  14. Yannick Le Marchand-Brustel
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  15. Albert Tran
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  16. Soumeya Bekri
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Correspondence to Soumeya Bekri.

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Anty, R., Dahman, M., Iannelli, A. et al. Bariatric Surgery Can Correct Iron Depletion in Morbidly Obese Women: A Link with Chronic Inflammation. OBES SURG 18, 709–714 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-007-9276-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-007-9276-y

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