In this study, we aimed to determine the relationship between tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-a ) and insulin levels in obese women. A total of 40 subjects, twenty obese (BMI>26.4 kg/m 2) and 20 nonobese, were studied. The obese group was constituted from the female patients who applied to our clinic with obesity. The nonobese group was constituted from healthy female medical students and staff whose BMIs were less than 25 kg/m 2. Body weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist/hip ratio, fat weight and lean weight of the obese patients and non-obese control group were recorded. Mean fasting insulin of the obese patients was 23.7±31.9 mIU/ml while it was 8.5±7.4 in nonobese people (p<0.05). Serum TNF-alevels were 14.8±3.66 ng/ml and 9.86±2.74 in obese and nonobese subjects respectively. TNF-a levels of the obese group was higher than that of the nonobese group (p<0.001). There was no significant difference between obese and nonobese groups from the point of view of fasting glucose/insulin (G)I) ratio. However we found a significant negative correlation between TNF-alpha and fasting G/I ratio in obese women (r=-0.54 and p=0.01). We concluded that the development of hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance in obese subjects may be related to an increase in TNF-a levels.
Keywords: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha, fasting insulin, fasting glucose/insulin ratio and obesity