Prevalence of obesity and hyperinsulinemia: its association with serum lipid and lipoprotein concentrations in healthy individuals from Maracaibo,Venezuela

The aim of this study was to analyse the prevalence of obesity and hyperinsulinemia and their association with lipid profile alterations on apparently healthy individuals from Maracaibo, Venezuela. We evaluated 306 men and 41 women, ages ranging from 33 to 65 years. All subjects underwent cardiovascular evaluation and laboratory examination after 10-12 h fasting, for glycaemia, total cholesterol, TG, VLDL-C, LDL-C and HDL-C as well as insulin. Seventy-four percent of men and 56.1% of women showed obesity (BMI > 25 Kg/m2). Men showed high concentrations of TG (48.3%), total cholesterol (40.2%), VLDL-C (48.3%) and LDL-C (33.9%) and low HDL-C levels (48%). The most frequent alteration on the lipid profile in women was high total cholesterol (46%) and LDL-C (51.2%). Men had significantly higher insulin concentrations than women (p < 0.005). After they were classified as obese or non obese, the obese subjects (men and women) showed higher prevalence of lipid profile alterations and insulin concentrations than non obese. The insulin concentration in obese men correlated with BMI, TG, VLDL-C and HDL and, in women with BMI, TG and VLDL-C. In conclusion, a high percentage of men and women in this study showed obesity and this obesity, specially in men, was strongly associated with lipid profile alterations and high insulin concentrations both well known cardiovascular risk factors.