The Association between Certain Proinflammatory Biomarkers and Body Composition in a Group of Overweight Students at the University of Jordan

The objectives of this study were to determine the circulatory levels of proinflammatory biomarkers including interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), and high sensitivity-C reactive protein (hs-CRP) in a group of overweight (OWT) and normal body weight (NWT) students, and to examine their association with adiposity assessed by using classical anthropometric measurements and bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA). A case-control study was conducted among 90 (45 OWT and 45 NWT) students (18- 25 years) recruited from all faculties of the University of Jordan, Jordan. Height, weight, Waist circumference (WC) and hip circumference (HC) were measured using standard procedures, whereas percent fat mass (%FM) and percent fat free mass (%FFM) were determined using BIA. Serum levels of the examined proinflammatory biomarkers were also determined. Results showed that mean concentration of hs-CRP (0.79 ±0.85) and IL-6 (7.72 ±2.31) in OWT were significantly higher than that in NWT counterparts (0.45 ±0.52, 6.38 ±1.37; respectively, P 0.05); whereas no significant differences were observed in the mean concentration of IL-1β and TNF-α between the two groups. CRP was significantly associated with BMI (r=0.538, P 0.01), weight (r=0.445, P 0.01), waist circumference (r=0.440, P 0.01), waist-to-hip ratio (r=0.229, P 0.05), and %FM (r=0.266, P 0.05). Whereas, IL-6 was positively correlated with %FM in males (r=0.306, P 0.05) and negatively correlated with %FFM in females (r=-0.297, P 0.05). No significant association was observed between any of the body composition measurements and IL-1β and TNF-α. In conclusion, progressive increase in body fat is responsible for the activation of the immune system even before reaching the obesity stage.