The Effect of a balanced Diet on Serum IL-6 Concentration in obese Women.

Word Heath Organization (WHO) estimates that 2.8 million adults die each year as a result of obesity. Raised Body Mass Index (BMI) can lead to lifestyle diseases such as Cardio Vascular Diseases (CVD), Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and some cancers. For many years the focus has been to reduce the total intake of fat to reduce obesity. The role of dietary carbohydrates in conjunction to lifestyle diseases has been less studied. Obesity often leads to chronic low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance, which can lead to lifestyle diseases. Through the food and genome project at Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), two studies have been done to investigate how distribution of macronutrients in the diet affects chronic low-grade inflammation. The result shows that by decreasing the amount of dietary carbohydrates in conjunction to governmental recommendations the inflammatory status of the body can be improved. Obese individuals seem to have an increased level of several cytokines, including Interleukin-6 (IL-6). The level of IL-6 has been shown to correlate with both C-Reactive Protein (CRP) and BMI, and decrease after weight loss. IL-6 can be used as a marker for inflammation, as it is a part of many inflammatory pathways in the cell. In NTNU III, 28 females with BMI>30 were given two diets; AHC (diet A, High Carbohydrate) and BMC (diet B, Moderate Carbohydrate). The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether a balanced diet affects the levels of IL-6 in blood serum, and if the concentration correlates to CRP and BMI. Blood samples were collected at baseline, after AHC and after BMC. The concentration of IL-6 was detected in blood serum using sandwich Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). No significant change in IL-6 concentration was found after the diets. No significant correlation was detected between IL-6 and BMI or IL-6 and CRP. Chronic low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance are complex conditions. In order to say something about the inflammatory profile it is necessary to look at the broader picture. Chronic low-grade inflammation involves several biological compounds that need to be further investigated