Efficacy of multivitamin support following bariatric surgery in patients with obesity: a prospective observational study.

Purpose: Bariatric surgery (BS), an effective treatment for severe obesity and its comorbidities, may result in micronutrient and vitamin deficiencies. This monocentric prospective observational study aimed at evaluating the efficacy of a specifically designed vitamin/mineral formula (Bariatrifast, BIOITALIA S.r.

Liver Enlargement Predicts Obstructive Sleep Apnea-Hypopnea Syndrome in Morbidly Obese Women.

Obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome (OSAHS) is frequently present in patients with severe obesity, but its prevalence especially in women is not well defined. OSAHS and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are common conditions, frequently associated in patients with central obesity and metabolic syndrome and are both the result of the accumulation of ectopic fat mass. Identifying predictors of risk of OSAHS may be useful to select the subjects requiring instrumental sleep evaluation.

Weight Loss and Variation of Levothyroxine Requirements in Hypothyroid Obese Patients After Bariatric Surgery.

Background: Obesity and hypothyroidism are both common disorders within the general population. Obese hypothyroid subjects require higher doses of levothyroxine (LT4) compared with normal weight individuals. Previous studies on the effects of bariatric surgery on LT4 dose requirements in hypothyroid subjects have provided conflicting results.

Description of an AGPAT2 pathologic allelic variant in a 54-year-old Caucasian woman with Berardinelli-Seip syndrome.

A 54-year-old Italian female patient was admitted to our Department with the diagnosis of type 2 diabetes poorly controlled with insulin therapy. The patient was born by consanguineous parents (first degree cousins); she had acromegaloid features, diffuse lipoatrophy and muscular pseudo-hypertrophy since childhood. To confirm the clinical hypothesis of congenital generalized lipodystrophy (CGL) or Berardinelli-Seip syndrome, the sequences of AGPAT2 (encoding for 1-acyl-sn-glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase beta) and BSCL2 (encoding for seipin) candidate genes were analyzed.

Prevalence of endocrine diseases in morbidly obese patients scheduled for bariatric surgery: beyond diabetes.

Background: Bariatric surgery allows stable body weight reduction in morbidly obese patients. In presurgical evaluation, obesity-related co-morbidities must be considered, and a multidisciplinary approach is recommended. Precise guidelines concerning the endocrinological evaluation to be performed before surgery are not available.

Melanocortin-4 receptor mutations in obesity.

The current alarming spread of obesity in many parts of the world is caused by a sudden environmental shift characterized by replacement of a frugal diet with low cost, energy dense food, and little requests for physical activity during work and leisure time. Yet, not all people exposed to an obesogenic environment become obese, and individual differences in the propensity to gain weight as well as the occurrence of different obese phenotypes within the same environment indicate that the genetic heritage in this regard is significant and heterogeneous. The central melanocortin circuit has received much attention during the past decade, since mutations of genes expressing some key molecules in neurons of this system were discovered, which may cause monogenic forms of obesity in animals and humans.

Effects of bariatric surgery on early myocardial alterations in adult severely obese subjects.

Objective: Aim of this study was to investigate the effect of weight loss on structural and functional myocardial alterations in severely obese subjects treated with bariatric surgery.

Patients And Methods: Thirteen severely obese patients (2 males and 11 females) were enrolled in the study. All subjects underwent conventional 2D color Doppler echocardiography.

Lean body mass is a major determinant of levothyroxine dosage in the treatment of thyroid diseases.

Total body weight is usually employed to calculate the amount of l-T(4) to be administered in patients with thyroid diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of body composition on l-T(4) requirements. Body composition was assessed by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry in 75 patients on TSH-suppressive l-T(4) therapy after conventional thyroid ablation for differentiated cancer.

Genetic screening for melanocortin-4 receptor mutations in a cohort of Italian obese patients: description and functional characterization of a novel mutation.

Mutations in the human melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4-R) gene may account for up to 5.8% of morbid nonsyndromic obesity. We have screened 120 unrelated obese patients for variants of the MC4-R gene.