Changes in Inflammatory and Cardiometabolic Profile After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass: A Prospective Study in an Overweight Chinese Cohort

Objective: To report on the changes over time in inflammatory and cardiometabolic profile after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in an overweight Chinese cohort. Setting: Outpatient clinic of a hospital in Beijing, China. Methods: This prospective cohort study involved 89 patients who met the indications for bariatric surgery in China. Serum leptin, tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), adiponectin, C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and cardiometabolic profile were monitored at baseline (presurgery) to 12 months postsurgery. Results: Serum CRP decreased from 39.39 mg/dL at baseline to 31.06 mg/dL at 12 months (p < 0.001). Serum leptin and IL-6 also steadily decreased throughout this time course, whereas serum adiponectin decreased to 5.52 μg/mL at 6 months and increased thereafter. An inconsistent pattern was observed for TNF-α. Fasted lipid profile, blood glucose, and HbA1c improved during follow-up. Conclusion: Weight loss after bariatric surgery was associated with lower serum concentrations of several inflammatory markers and an improved cardiometabolic profile during the first 12 months of follow-up in this Chinese cohort. These findings may reflect improvement in subclinical inflammation secondary to the reduction of the body fat mass, but also suggest other potential mechanisms to explain the improvement of cardiometabolic profile after metabolic surgery.