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Does segmental body composition differ in women with Prader–Willi syndrome compared to women with essential obesity?

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Abstract

Background

Subjects with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS) have a higher fat mass and a lower fat-free mass compared to subjects with essential obesity. However, few data are presently available on the segmental body composition (BC) of PWS subjects.

Aim

To evaluate whether women with PWS and women with essential obesity, matched for age and percent body fat, differ in segmental fat distribution and surrogate markers of cardiometabolic disease (CMD).

Subjects and methods

35 women with PWS and 50 women with essential obesity were matched for age and percent body fat using coarsened exact matching. BC was measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Oral glucose tolerance testing and measurements of cholesterol, triglycerides, C-reactive protein, and blood pressure were performed. Comparisons between PWS and obese women were performed using generalized linear models.

Results

Trunk fat was lower in PWS than in obese women on both absolute [−7.3 (95 % confidence interval −9.4 to −5.2) kg] and relative [−4.1 (−6.9 to −1.4) % of body fat] grounds. PWS and obese women had similar surrogate markers of CMD, with the exception of HDL-cholesterol, which was higher in PWS women.

Conclusion

Trunk fat is lower in obese women with PWS than in those with essential obesity. Surrogate markers of CMD are, however, mostly similar in the two groups.

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Acknowledgments

The study was supported by Progetti di Ricerca Corrente, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Verbania and Milan, Italy.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All the procedures performed in this study were approved by the Ethical Committee of the Istituto Auxologico Italiano (Piancavallo, Verbania, Italy) and were in accordance with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and the Additional Protocol to the European Convention of Human Rights and Medicine, concerning Biomedical Research 2005.

Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from the PWS patients and their parents or guardians. Written consent was also obtained from the women with essential obesity.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Epidemiology Unit, Liver Research Center, Building Q, AREA Science Park, Strada Statale 14 km 163.5, 34012, Basovizza, Trieste, Italy

    G. Bedogni

  2. International Center for the Assessment of Nutritional Status (ICANS), University of Milano, Milan, Italy

    G. Bedogni

  3. Division of Auxology and Metabolic Diseases, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Verbania, Italy

    G. Grugni & A. Sartorio

  4. Experimental Laboratory for Auxo-Endocrinological Research, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Milano, Verbania, Italy

    G. Grugni, G. Tringali, N. Marazzi & A. Sartorio

Authors
  1. G. Bedogni
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  2. G. Grugni
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  3. G. Tringali
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  4. N. Marazzi
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  5. A. Sartorio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Bedogni.

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Cite this article

Bedogni, G., Grugni, G., Tringali, G. et al. Does segmental body composition differ in women with Prader–Willi syndrome compared to women with essential obesity?. J Endocrinol Invest 38, 957–961 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-015-0266-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-015-0266-y

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