Serum Lipid Profile Changes After Bariatric Surgery

Obesity is accompanied by a number of comorbidities that gravely lower patients’ quality of life; one such comorbidity is serum lipid abnormalities. Studies have shown that weight loss decreases serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and increases high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Bariatric surgery is one of the most recent ways to treat obesity and manage weight loss in overweight patients whose options for weight loss are limited. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of bariatric surgery on lipid profile of surgical candidates during the three months of post-operative care. This prospective study was performed among 36 obese candidates of bariatric surgery at Mostafa Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, Iran from April to September of 2012. Body mass index (BMI), serum cholesterol, triglyceride, HDL and LDL levels were measured before and three months following the surgical intervention. The mean age of the participants was 35.39 ± 10.32 years. Mean body mass index (BMI) of the patients before surgery was 46.74 ± 6.71 kg/m2, which was lowered to 38.24 ± 5.31 kg/m2 after the intervention. Assessments showed a statistically significant increase in the serum level of HDL and a statistically significant decrease in the serum level of triglycerides, but no significant change in the serum level of cholesterol or LDL was noted. Moreover, results showed a positive correlation between serum LDL variations and changes in BMI. Our findings showed that bariatric surgery improves weight loss and can help with managing or treating co-morbid illnesses through reducing triglyceride level and increasing HDL level, both of which improve patients’ long-term cardiac, hepatic and endocrine health status.