Metabolic profile in severely obese women is less deteriorated than expected when compared to moderately obese women

Background: Obesity is well known to be associated with an increased prevalence of metabolic complications. Severe obesity is thus expected to have more important alterations of the metabolic profile than moderate obesity. This study aimed to compare the metabolic profile of pre- and postmenopausal severely obese women with moderately obese women. Methods: First, the metabolic profile of pre- (n=165) and postmenopausal (n=43) severely obese women (body mass index (BMI) >= 40 kg/m(2)) was compared to that of pre- (n=52) and postmenopausal (n=35) moderately obese women (BMI of 30-40 kg/m(2)). Thereafter, pre- and postmenopausal severely obese women were divided into two subgroups according to the presence/absence of a dysmetabolic profile. We used for comparison, a group of pre- and postmenopausal moderately obese women without a dysmetabolic profile. Results: The metabolic profile of pre- and postmenopausal severely obese women was less deteriorated than expected when compared to moderately obese women. Moreover, severely obese women with or without a dysmetabolic profile displayed comparable or even lower plasma levels of cholesterol, HDL and LDL-cholesterol, and a lower cholesterol/HDL-cholesterol ratio than moderately obese women (P <= 0.05). After menopause, the metabolic profile of severely obese women, dysmetabolic or not, was similar to that of moderately obese women. Blood pressure was, however, higher in severely obese women compared to moderately obese women, only before menopause (P <= 0.0001). Conclusion: These results indicate that despite their large accumulation of adipose tissue, most of the severely obese women had a metabolic profile less deteriorated than expected, when compared to moderately obese women.