body weight and vascular function

Conditions: Metabolic Syndrome; Obesity

Summary: an increased body mass impairs vascular function (vf), an important characteristic of subjects suffering from type 2 diabetes and a risk marker for cardiovascular diseases. however, a wide variety of in vivo vf markers exists each measuring different aspects of vf. each of these markers addresses a different aspect of the vasculature. studies comparing under standardized conditions the differences and relationships of the many different vf measurements in lean and abdominally overweight / obese subjects are missing. also, there is a great need to know which of these markers are sensitive to dietary challenges. therefore, it is imperative to conduct an extensive study on dietary effects and interrelationships of a broad spectrum of vf measurements and plasma biomarkers in lean and overweight / obese subjects. focus will be on fmd, a well accepted biomarker for cardiovascular disease. the investigators propose to examine, in a two-way parallel-randomized human intervention study, the effects of weight-loss in abdominally overweight / obese men on vf markers and plasma biomarkers related to low-grade inflammation and vascular activity during the fasting and both the postprandial and hyperinsulinemic state. furthermore, differences - and relations between - vf measurements and plasma biomarkers will be compared cross-sectionally between lean and abdominally overweight / obese male subjects.


Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: * aged between 18 and 65 years * waist circumference below 94 cm (lean subjects) or between 102 - 110 cm (abdominally overweight / obese subjects) * caucasian * plasma glucose \< 7.0 mmol/l * serum total cholesterol \< 8.0 mmol/l * serum triacylglycerol \< 4.5 mmol/l * plasma hba1c \< 6.5% * no current smoker * no diabetic patients * no familial hypercholesterolemia * no abuse of drugs * less than 14 alcoholic consumptions per week * stable body weight (weight gain or loss \< 3 kg in the past three months) * no use of medication known to affect blood pressure, serum lipid or glucose metabolism * no severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as epilepsy, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis * no active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or cardiovascular event, such as an acute myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident * no contra-indications for mri imaging * willingness to give up being a blood donor (or having donated blood) from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study and for 4 weeks after completion of the study * no difficult venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visit exclusion criteria: * women * non-caucasian * plasma glucose ≥ 7.0 mmol/l * serum total cholesterol ≥ 8.0 mmol/l * serum triacylglycerol ≥ 4.5 mmol/l * plasma hba1c ≥ 6.5% * current smoker, or smoking cessation \< 12 months * diabetic patients * familial hypercholesterolemia * abuse of drugs * more than 14 alcoholic consumptions per week * unstable body weight (weight gain or loss \> 3 kg in the past three months) * use of use of medication known to affect blood pressure, serum lipid or glucose metabolism * severe medical conditions that might interfere with the study, such as epilepsy, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel diseases, auto inflammatory diseases and rheumatoid arthritis * active cardiovascular disease like congestive heart failure or cardiovascular event, such as an acute myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular accident * contra-indications for mri imaging * use of an investigational product within the previous 1-month * not willing to give up being a blood donor (or having donated blood) from 8 weeks before the start of the study, during the study or for 4 weeks after completion of the study * not or difficult to venipuncture as evidenced during the screening visit

Keywords: body weight obesity weight loss vascular function markers