Assessment of Physiological and Metabolic Changes in Obese Adults Using Inflammatory and Hormonal Markers
Department of Biology, College of Science, University of Kirkuk, Kirkuk, Iraq.
Research Article
Open Access Research Journal of Biology and Pharmacy, 2026, 16(02), 133–144.
Article DOI: 10.53022/oarjbp.2026.16.2.0011
Publication history:
Received on 08 March 2026; revised on 08 April 2026; accepted on 12 April 2026
Abstract:
Background: Obesity is a chronic, relapsing, and multifactorial disease marked by an excessive accumulation of adipose tissue which has recently been considered to be in fact the physiological state for most people with obesity namely low-grade systemic inflammation. Adipose tissue is an active organ, serving the role of a dysfunctional endocrine gland that releases both adipokines and pro-inflammatory cytokines with capabilities to interfere with glucose/lipid homeostasis as well as insulin resistance.
Objective: This study was positioned within the framework of exploring physiological and metabolic changes in obesity among adults by analyzing anthropometric, biochemical, hormonal & inflammatory markers between obese subjects and normal-weight controls while assessing for interrelationships between adiposity vs. several others including selected metabolically active endocrine cell-derived products (adipokines), inflammation features as well as insulin resistance status.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional comparative study of 120 adults (age,20-55 years) with obesity (n=60; BMI >=30 kg/m2 and controls[n = 60] aged matched normal-weight [BMI18.5–24.9 kg/m2]. Anthropometric indices as well as fasting biochemical, hormonal (leptin, adiponectin, insulin and cortisol), inflammatory parameters (CRP IL-6 and TNF-alpha) were assessed. HOMA-IR; homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance was calculated as an index for IR. Data were analyzed using independent-samples t-test, Pearson correlation, multiple linear regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis of the curve in SPSS v27; Significance p < 0.0.
Results: Compared with controls, obese participants had a significantly higher BMI, waist circumference and absolute values of the Waist-to-hip ratio, blood pressure (sitting systolic/diastolic BP), fasting glucose levels HbA1c triglycerides LDL-cholesterol leptin insulin cortisol CRP IL-6 TNF-alpha as well as HOMA-IR while displaying lower HDL cholesterol concentration relative to those without this phenotype(p < 0.001). Stronger correlations were observed between BMI and HOMA-IR (r = 0.78), leptin (r = 0.51) and IL-6(r= 0.61). BMI and leptin both emerged as independent HOMA-IR predictors on multiple regression (R2 = 0.80, p < 001). Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve analysis revealed that leptin, CRP and HOMA-IR showed very good discriminative performance to identify obesity related metabolic dysfunction from remaining cases.
Conclusions: Obesity in this cohort was associated with coordinated disruption of a range of adipokines along with evidence for chronic low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance. Conclusion — We identify Leptin, CRP and HOMA-IR as strong classifiers which constitute potential novel biomarkers for the early stratification of metabolic risk among obese adults.
Keywords:
Obesity; Inflammation; Leptin; Adiponectin; Insulin Resistance; Homa-Ir; C-Reactive Protein; Interleukin-6
Full text article in PDF:
Copyright information:
Copyright © 2026 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article. This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Liscense 4.0