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Pregnancy in the massively obese: course, outcome, and obesity prognosis of the infant.

The obstetric performance and pregnancy outcome in 208 massively obese patients who were delivered over an eight-year period were compared with those of nonobese control subjects. The incidence of obesity in their infants was also compared. No significant increase in the incidence of urinary tract infection, diabetes, breech presentation, cesarean section, forceps delivery, or maternal and infant morbidity was noted in the obese women. Significantly increased incidences of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (p less than 0.01), gestational diabetes (p less than 0.01), inadequate weight gain (p less than 0.001), and wound or episiotomy infection (p less than 0.05) were observed in the study group. The mean birth weight of the infants of obese women was 209 grams greater than that of the control subjects. A significantly increased number of the obese patients were delivered of excessive-sized infants. Despite this, the incidence of obesity in infants of obese women was not significantly increased at birth or six months of age. By 12 months of age, however, these infants were significantly more obese than the control infants.

Adolescent

Dissecting the anti-obesity components of ginseng: How ginseng polysaccharides and ginsenosides target gut microbiota to suppress high-fat diet-induced obesity.

INTRODUCTION: Ginseng demonstrates therapeutic potential in treating obesity, with both experimental and clinical studies suggesting its anti-obesity effects are mediated by gut microbiota. Nonetheless, the specific chemical components responsible for this effect remain largely unidentified. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to investigate the anti-obesity effects and mechanisms of ginseng polysaccharides (GP) and ginsenosides (GS), the primary chemical components of ginseng, with a focus on their impact on gut microbiota. METHODS: The impact of GP and GS on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity was assessed using a mouse model. Molecular mechanisms were explored through a combination of chemical analysis, metagenomics, RT-qPCR, ELISA, and biochemical assays. RESULTS: GP or GS administration effectively prevented adiposity in HFD-fed mice, and both effects were mediated by gut microbiota. Chemical analysis revealed diverse glycosyl groups in GP and GS. Metagenomics data suggested that GP-enriched species, e.g., Bacteroides stercorirosoris and Clostridiales bacterium encoded carbohydrate-active enzymes GH35, GH43 and PL9_1, while GS-enriched Sulfurospirillum halorespirans encoded GH16_5. These enzymes facilitated the utilization of glycosyl groups in GP and GS, selectively stimulating bacterial growth and reshaping the gut microbiota. Furthermore, bacterial species enriched by GP or GS encoded specific functional genes involved in short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) synthesis (K00625 and K00925 for GP; K18118, K00100, and K18122 for GS) and intestinal gluconeogenesis (IGN) (K01678, K00024, and K01596 for GP; K18118 and K00278 for GS). Consequently, the SCFA-GLP-1/PYY signaling and IGN were activated by both GP and GS to ameliorate obesity phenotypes. CONCLUSION: GP and GS, containing diverse glycosyl groups, selectively stimulate specific gut bacteria, triggering mechanisms involved in SCFA-GLP-1/PYY signaling and IGN activation to reduce adiposity in HFD-fed mice. The study enhances understanding of the chemical components crucial for the gut microbiota-mediated anti-obesity effect of ginseng. The mechanistic understanding provides valuable insights for developing ginseng-based drugs or health products to combat obesity.

Gastrointestinal Microbiome

Efficacy and Safety of Anti-Obesity Medications for Weight Loss Maintenance in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials.

AIMS: This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of anti-obesity medications (AOMs) for long-term weight maintenance following initial weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library from inception to 31 October 2025. Eligible studies were randomised controlled trials (RCTs) comparing AOMs with placebo during the weight-maintenance phase in adults with overweight or obesity after initial weight loss achieved through lifestyle, dietary, surgical or pharmacological interventions. Outcomes included anthropometric indices, cardiometabolic measures, safety endpoints, quality of life and neuropsychiatric adverse events. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and odds ratios (ORs), each with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), were pooled for continuous and categorical outcomes, respectively, using fixed-effect or random-effects models as appropriate. Risk of bias was assessed using the Cochrane RoB 2 tool, and certainty of evidence was evaluated using the GRADE framework. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO (CRD420261293040). RESULTS: A total of 12 RCTs comprising 4915 participants met the inclusion criteria. Compared with placebo, AOM therapy during the weight-maintenance phase was associated with prevention of weight regain and additional improvements in anthropometric and cardiometabolic outcomes. AOMs led to further reductions in body weight (BW, WMD: -8.68 kg, 95% CI: -13.25 to -4.11), waist circumference (WC, WMD: -7.16 cm, 95% CI: -10.34 to -3.98) and body mass index (BMI, WMD: -3.58 kg/m2, 95% CI: -5.69 to -1.46). Additional benefits were observed for triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. Gastrointestinal adverse events were more common with AOMs, whereas serious adverse events were not significantly increased. Neuropsychiatric adverse events were generally comparable between groups, and available quality-of-life measures favoured AOM treatment. CONCLUSIONS: AOM therapy during the weight-maintenance phase can help prevent weight regain, provide further reductions in body weight and improve cardiometabolic risk factors in adults with overweight or obesity. Gastrointestinal adverse events were more common with AOMs, whereas serious adverse events were not significantly increased. Further long-term trials are needed to clarify optimal treatment strategies and safety.

Humans

Catechol effect on the lysosomal enzymes in the adipose tissues of obese and obese-diabetic monkeys.

The activities of three lysosomal hydrolases were assayed in the basal and isoproterenol-stimulated states in the adipose tissues of lean, obese and obese-diabetic monkeys. The basal activity of acid lipase appeared higher in the obese tissues with or without diabetes than in the lean tissue. Isoproterenol stimulation did not affect these activities. The basal activity of beta-galactosidase (beta-Gal) was similar in all tissues and unaffected by isoproterenol stimulation. Although basal activity of hexosaminidase (Hex) was comparable in all tissues, activity increased significantly in the stimulated diabetic-obese tissue but not in the stimulated tissues from lean animals or animals with simple obesity.

Acetylglucosaminidase

Obesity: do fat cells from genetically obese mice (C57BL/6J ob/ob) have an innate capacity for increased fat storage?

Fat tissue from the genetically obese mouse (C57BL/6J ob/ob) and its lean littermate (+/?) was transplanted into lean hosts(+/+). Chemical induced obesity in the host mice caused no greater increase in the size of 'obese' fat cells than it did in the size of 'lean' fat cells. 'Obese' fat cells, therefore, have no innate capacity for increased fat storage.

Adipose Tissue

Simultaneous study of cortisol, growth hormone and prolactin nyctohemeral variations in normal and obese subjects. Influence of prolonged fasting in obesity.

Hourly integrated concentrations (IC) of growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL) and cortisol were determined by a continuous sampling procedure in six obese women, before and at the end of a 12 day fast, and in eight normal controls under basal conditions. Hormonal 24 h IC and nyctohemeral variations were calculated from these data. Nyctohemeral rhythms were investigated by the periodogram method. A significant increase over basal values of 24 h IC of PRL, GH and cortisol was observed at the end of the fasting period. Nyctohemeral variations--but not nyctohemeral rhythm--of IC-GH were found in normal subjects. They were abolished in obese patients under basal conditions but restored during fasting. The circadian rhythm of cortisol was not altered in obesity. A shift of the normal nyctohemeral rhythm of PRL was observed in obese patients, but the normal pattern was restored during fasting.

Adult

Does adipose tissue cellularity or the age of onset of obesity influence the response to short-term inpatient treatment of obese women?

Thirty-three obese women were admitted as inpatients to a metabolic ward and had an average intake of 3.35 MJ (800 kcal) daily for three weeks. Fat biopsies were taken at three subcutaneous sites and average fat cell mass (CM) and apparent fat cell number (FCN) were calculated. There was no significant correlation between adipose tissue cellularity (CM or FCN) and total weight loss or resting metabolic rate, provided due allowances were made for the severity of obesity in each case. Neither was there any significant correlation between short-term weight loss and the age of onset of obesity. Resting metabolic rate, and not adipose tissue cellularity or age of onset of obesity, is a better indicator of short-term weight loss under controlled inpatient conditions.

Abdominal Muscles

Thyroid and obesity: survey of some function tests in a large obese population.

Tests of thyroid function in 493 obese patients were compared with thyroid function in 3076 non-obese patients. No differences in 131I uptake by the thyroid were observed at 6 h or 24 h; the frequency distribution was gaussian or normal in both populations; the frequencies of normal, high or low T3 and T4 values in the two populations were likewise comparable. Further, no correlation was found in the obese subjects between 131I uptake (6 h and 24 h), T3, T4 and overweight; on the other hand, there was a significant negative correlation between 131I uptake (6 h and 24 h) and age. It would appear that thyroid function is normal in obesity.

Adolescent

Behavioral treatment of obesity. Limitations and results with the chronically obese.

Results of behavioral treatment for obese persons during the first 18 months of clinical operation are presented and other reports in the literature are reviewed. Baseline and follow-up data were gathered from a population of 144 female, chronically obese patients, most of whom were experiencing medical complications associated with obesity. Treatment results were disappointing in comparison with results of similar programs. Difference in patient population groups is offered as a possible explanation for this phenomenon. Covariant analyses of demographic and psychosocial variables failed to yield any clear predictors of weight loss; it is suggested that biological factors may be important to treatment outcome for some overweight patients.

Behavior Therapy

Protein utilization and lysine metabolism in obese and non-obese growing rats.

Efficiency of protein utilization and lysine metabolism were studied in growing rats of the Zucker 13M strain, both obese and lean, and in the Charles River CD strain. When graded levels of wheat gluten or wheat gluten supplemented with lysine were fed to these three types of rats, no significant differences in the efficiency of protein utilization were found. However, under these dietary conditions, the Zucker obese rats appeared to be about 167% more efficient in energy utilization than the Zucker lean rats or the Charles River strain. The response of liver lysine-ketoglutarate reductase to the dietary treatment was similar in these three types of growing rats. The enzyme activity was induced by dietary lysine. Rats fed a lysine-deficient purified diet had a significantly lower enzyme activity than those fed a protein-free diet indicating that the same adaptive mechanism for lysine conservation as previously observed in adult rats also occurred in the growing animal. Interaction between dietary and genetic factors on fatty liver was found in this study. The most severe fatty liver was observed in the Zucker obese rats fed the most lysine-deficient diet containing 8% wheat gluten protein.

Animals

Obesity and thyroid function. 3. Relationship between some indicators of thyroid function and the energy metabolism of striated muscle in obese women.

1. In a group of 23 obese women the relations between some indicators of thyroid function (thyroxine-binding globuline--T4BG, triiodothyronine-binding globuline--T3BG, Achilles tendon reflex--ART) on the one hand and activities of enzymes of the energy metabolism (hexokinase--HK, triose phosphate dehydrogenase--TPDH, lactate dehydrogenase--LDH, glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase--GPDH, citrate synthease--CS, malate dehydrogenase--MDH, hydroxyacyl--COA dehydrogenase) in the quadriceps femoris muscle on the other hand were investigated. 2. Correlations were found between T4BG and TPDH, LDH and GPDH activities, between T3BG and TPDH and GPDH activities and between the value of the Achilles tendon reflex and TPDH activity. Functionally these enzymes activities are associated with glycolysis and hydrogen transport from cytoplasmatic NADH2. No correlations were found between enzymes of the aerobic metabolism incl. enzymes of fatty acid oxidation and indicators of thyroid function. 3. The results indicate a relationship between thyroid function and enzymes involved in glycolysis and hydrogen transport from cytoplasmatic NADH2. They do not suggest, however, the unequivocal conclusion that in obese women with reduced thyroid function there is a generally reduced energy supplying metabolism in skeletal muscle.

Achilles Tendon

Transient insulin increase in reactive hypoglycemia in obese and non-obese subjects.

(1). Insulin levels at the moment of glucose-induced reactive hypoglycemia have been compared with zero-hour insulin levels in 108 subjects in whom the blood glucose had decreased to 50 mg percent or less (50 to 31 mg) at the third, fourth, or fifth hour in the course of an oral glucose tolerance test (1.75 g/kg of body weight). (2). Of the 47 obese subjects, insulin levels at the time of the reactive hypoglycemia were inappropriately high, ie exceeded the fasting insulin level by 20 uU/ml or more in 38 percent and by 40 microunits/ml or higher in 26 percent of the tests. (3). In 61 non-obese subjects, employing the same criteria, inappropriately high insulinemia at the time of reactive hypoglycemia was recorded with about the same frequency. (4). In each instance of reactive hypoglycemia of 50 mg percent or less with concomitant insulin levels above the starting value to the degree stipulated, the so-termed inappropriate hyperinsulinemia was transient. In other words, judging by levels preceding and/or following the reactive hypoglycemia, insulin titers were decreasing and hence, the inappropriately high insulin level at the moment of hypoglycemia represented a lag phenomenon. (5). The above data suggest that insulin levels elevated above the starting value may play a role in reactive hypoglycemia. In subjects with insulin levels at the time of reactive hypoglycemia equal to or below the starting value, the low blood glucose level cannot be attributed to insulin. In such instances, delay or lag in hepatic glucose output and/or counter-regulatory responses probably play the dominant or sole role in the reactive hypoglycemia.

Blood Glucose

Randomised trial of jejunoileal bypass versus medical treatment in morbid obesity. The Danish Obesity Project.

In a randomised clinical trial to assess the value of intestinal bypass in the treatment of gross obesity 130 patients who underwent end-to-side jejunoileostomy (with either a 1/3 or a 3/1 ratio between jejunum and ileum left in continuity) were compared with 66 non-surgically treated patients. All patients in the study had gross, long-standing, treatment-resistant obesity with resultant somatic, psychic, or social problems; none were alcoholic or had liver disease or other conditions which made them poor surgical risks. Most subjects were observed for more than 3 years. Median weight loss within 24 months was 42.9 kg in the bypass group, compared with 5.9 kg in the control group. No deaths occurred among those who underwent surgery. Patients who underwent intestinal bypass also had a better improvement in quality of life and a higher degree of patient satisfaction. Complications of the operation were, however, common and occasionally severe.

Adolescent

An analysis of the relationships among obesity, plasma insulin and hepatic lipogenic enzymes in "viable yellow obese" mice (Avy/a).

The development of obesity, hyperinsulinemia and six hepatic lipogenic enzymes in Avy/a mice were compared to that in a/a mice. Correlation between body weight, liver weight, plasma insulin concentration and activities of hepatic enzymes was analyzed. In the Avy/a mice, body weight, liver weight and plasma insulin level increased steadily as the mice aged. In the a/a mice, the change of these three parameters was much slower. Plasma insulin concentration in a/a mice did not increase until eight months of age. Compared with a/a mice, Avy/a mice had higher 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and fatty acid synthetase activities at two months of age; lower citrate cleavage enzyme, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activities at three months of age; lower citrate cleavage enzyme and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and higher acetyl CoA carboxylase activities at five months of age; and higher malic enzyme, citrate cleavage enzyme and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase activities at eight months of age. There were significant correlations between plasma insulin level and body weight and between plasma insulin level and the activities of malic enzyme and citrate cleavage enzyme in Avy/a mice. The correlation between body weight and malic enzyme and citrate cleavage enzyme activities disappeared after the analysis was adjusted for plasma insulin level.

ATP Citrate (pro-S)-Lyase

An exploration of obese observational learning in modifying selected eating responses of obese children.

The present study investigated the effects of two observational learning paradigms in modifying the eating behavior of obese children. A total of 18 subjects ranging in age from seven to 12 years and in weight from 74 to 160 lb (33 to 72 kg) were randomly assigned to three conditions. Intervention consisted of four sessions in which subjects viewed videotapes of their baseline eating behaviors compared with a model eating at a reduced speed. Based on the assumption that children may acquire their parents' eating behaviors, one condition included videotapes of a same-sex adult model. In order to maximize model-observer similarity, subjects in a second treatment condition observed videotapes of themselves eating at a reduced speed. Subjects in the control condition viewed only their baseline eating behavior videotapes. Dependent measures of eating behavior were found to be significantly affected by both model treatments, while no significant differences were evidenced in the control group.

Behavior Therapy