Publications by authors named "Jose Maria Balibrea"

Obesity is a multifactorial, chronic, progressive and recurrent disease considered a public health issue worldwide and an important determinant of disability and death. In Spain, its current prevalence in the adult population is about 24% and an estimated prevalence in 2035 of 37%. Obesity increases the probability of several diseases linked to higher mortality such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hyperlipidemia, arterial hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, several types of cancer, or obstructive sleep apnea.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores how adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) are linked to liver fibrosis in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and assesses the impact of altering ATMs in a mouse model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).
  • Researchers analyzed adipose tissue and liver biopsies from 42 NAFLD patients, finding a correlation between increased pro-inflammatory ATMs and higher stages of liver fibrosis.
  • Modulating ATMs through a specific treatment notably reduced inflammation and fibrosis progression in the experimental NASH model, suggesting a potential therapeutic approach for managing liver damage in NAFLD.
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Context: The impact of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) at baseline on limited weight loss (WL) after bariatric surgery (BS) remains controversial, and the potential underlying mechanisms incompletely understood.

Objective: We aimed at gaining further insight on this relationship and identifying novel associations between adipose tissue (AT) parameters and short-term WL outcomes in subjects with or without T2D undergoing BS.

Methods: Mid-term WL trajectories after BS have been evaluated in a cohort of 1659 subjects (cohort 1) with (n = 543) and without T2D (n = 1116).

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Background: We evaluated the association between white adipose tissue parameters before bariatric surgery (BS) and post-surgical weight loss, with an especial focus on extracellular matrix (ECM) gene expression.

Methods: Paired samples from subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) were obtained from 144 subjects undergoing BS. The association between total body weight loss (%TBWL) at 12 months after BS and the histological characteristics and gene expression of selected genes in SAT and VAT was analyzed.

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Hypertriglyceridemia (HTG) has been associated with an increased risk of pancreatitis and cardiovascular disease. Adipose tissue plays a major role in lipid metabolism, mobilization and distribution. We have compared the histological and transcriptomic profiles of the subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral (VAT) adipose tissues from subjects with severe obesity undergoing bariatric surgery with (Ob-HTG, = 37) and without HTG (Ob-NTG, = 67).

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Purpose: To define the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on hospital surgical activity and assess the incidence of perioperative COVID-19 within two protocolized screening pathways for elective and non-elective surgery.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study of adults undergoing surgery during the COVID-19 outbreak. The elective pathway included telephone surveys and a quantitative polymerase-chain-reaction test (RT-PCR) only for patients who were asymptomatic and at low risk of infection.

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Background: Laparoscopic surgery has almost replaced open surgery in many areas of Gastro-Intestinal (GI) surgery. There is currently no published expert consensus statement on the principles of laparoscopic GI surgery. This may have affected the training of new surgeons.

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Background And Aims: Evidence on the occurrence of low skeletal muscle mass (low-SMM) following bariatric surgery (BS) as well as on the impact of low-SMM antedating BS on post-surgical body composition (BC) are scant. In this context, we aimed to prospectively evaluate the prevalence of low-SMM prior to and up to 5 years after BS, and to evaluate pre-surgical low-SMM as an independent risk factor for the presence of low-SMM after BS.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected database.

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The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of the most dangerous heart attack risk factors: diabetes or raised fasting plasma glucose, abdominal obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. The goal of this study is to compare the state of the main features of obesity-associated white adipose tissue (WAT) dysfunction in 66 women with severe obesity without (MetS-) or with MetS (MetS+). Fat cell area, adipocyte size distribution and histological fibrosis were analysed in visceral (VAT) and abdominal subcutaneous WAT (SAT) in 33 age- and BMI-matched pairs of MetS- and MetS+ subjects.

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Background/objectives: Whether the extent of weight loss (WL) modulates bariatric surgery (BS) cardiovascular benefits has scarcely been assessed. Several WL thresholds have been commonly used to classify BS patients as good or poor responders without a proven clinical relevance. We examined the relationship between the magnitude of WL after BS and post-surgery major adverse cardiovascular-event (MACE) incidence.

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Development and severity of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) have been linked to obesity and white adipose tissue (WAT) dysfunction plays a key role in this relation. We compared the main features of subcutaneous (SAT) and visceral WAT (VAT) tissue dysfunction in 48 obese women without (Ob) and with NAFLD (Ob-NAFLD) undergoing bariatric surgery and matched for age, BMI and T2D status. Fat cell area, adipocyte size distribution, the degree of histological fibrosis and the mRNA expression of adipokines and genes implicated in inflammation, adipogenesis, angiogenesis, metabolism and extracellular matrix remodeling were measured by RT-qPCR in both fat depots.

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Introduction: The extraordinary impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Spanish hospitals has led to a redistribution of resources for the treatment of these patients, with a decreased capacity of care for other common diseases. The aim of the present study is to analyse how this situation has affected the treatment of cholecystitis and cholelythiasis.

Methods: It is a descriptive national study after online voluntary distribution of a specific questionnaire with Google Drive™ to members of the Spanish Association of Surgeons (AEC).

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ARMCX3 is encoded by a member of the Armcx gene family and is known to be involved in nervous system development and function. We found that ARMCX3 is markedly upregulated in mouse liver in response to high lipid availability, and that hepatic ARMCX3 is upregulated in patients with NAFLD and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Mice were subjected to ARMCX3 invalidation (inducible ARMCX3 knockout) and then exposed to a high-fat diet and diethylnitrosamine-induced hepatocarcinogenesis.

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Purpose: Home lockdown and isolation due to COVID-19 have been related to negative changes in mood, sleep, and eating behaviors. People with obesity are especially vulnerable to emotional eating and might be more prone to weight gain and negative outcomes during lockdown.

Materials And Methods: Individuals scheduled for an appointment at the Obesity Unit of a Tertiary Hospital between March 16 and June 21 (n=1230).

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Introduction: Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is the commonest bariatric procedure worldwide. Yet there is significant variation in practice concerning its various aspects. This paper report results from the first modified Delphi consensus-building exercise on SG.

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Introduction: The extraordinary impact of COVID-19 pandemic on Spanish hospitals has led to a redistribution of resources for the treatment of these patients, with a decreased capacity of care for other common diseases. The aim of the present study is to analyse how this situation has affected the treatment of cholecystitis and cholelythiasis.

Methods: It is a descriptive national study after online voluntary distribution of a specific questionnaire with Google Drive™ to members of the Spanish Association of Surgeons (AEC).

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aimed to gather a consensus among 44 expert bariatric surgeons on how to safely resume Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A modified Delphi method was used, allowing the experts to review and agree on 111 proposed statements across two rounds, with a consensus defined as at least 70% agreement.
  • The results include 38 key recommendations that can help medical teams resume surgeries and guide future research in the field.
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Background: Nowadays, laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is one of the most widely performed bariatric procedures. Different techniques have been described to reduce the rate of complications associated with the staple line, but no consensus has been reached. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of surgical complications after LSG with three different approaches to the staple line.

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New coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 infection (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) has determined the necessity of reorganization in many centers all over the world. Spain, as an epicenter of the disease, has been forced to assume health policy changes in all the territory. However, and from the beginning of the pandemic, every center attending surgical urgencies had to guarantee the continuous coverage adopting correct measures to maintain the excellence of quality of care.

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Seasonal variations have been described in humans in several variables such as sleep, mood, appetite, food preferences, or body weight. We hypothesized that these variations could also influence the decrease in body weight rate in patients submitted to body weight loss interventions. Thus, here we tested the variations of weight loss according to the time of the year the surgery took place in a group patients (n = 1322) submitted to bariatric surgery in the Hospital Universitari de la Vall d'Hebron in Barcelona (geographical coordinates: 41°25'41″N 2°8'32″E).

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Seasonality is a phenomenon that is characterized by changes over the year in sleep, mood, behaviour, appetite and body weight. In humans, seasonal variations have been found in certain variables, such as lipid variables and body mass index. We hypothesize that this rhythm could influence the expected variation of the levels of biochemical variables in cases of body weight loss.

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