Bariatric Surgery versus Incretin Analogs: Impact on Adipose Tissue Following Weight Loss

• Grant number: 24/10066-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: March 17, 2025
• End date: March 16, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Nutrition
• Principal Investigator: Ellen Cristini de Freitas
• Grantee: Gabriela Ferreira Abud
• Supervisor: Kristin Stanford
• Host Institution: Escola de Educação Física e Esporte de Ribeirão Preto (EEFERP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Ohio State University, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/06638-6 - Metabolic and molecular responses under the effect of taurine supplementation with and without multicomponent training in elderly women with sarcopenic obesity using the metabolomics approach., BP.DR

Abstract

Obesity is a chronic disease that affects adipose tissue health and contributes to metabolic disease, including insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, and risk of cardiovascular disease. The treatment of obesity remains a challenging area, and the implications of this pathological condition from both clinical and public health perspectives are tremendous. Despite some studies demonstrating that therapeutic interventions such as bariatric surgery and metabolic pharmacotherapy with incretin analogs appear to be effective treatments for obesity and its associated comorbidities, the mechanisms through which these treatments affect, or are affected by adipose tissue remodeling and plasticity, and how this contributes to metabolic improvements, have not been thoroughly explored. Therefore, the main aim of this project is to assess mechanisms of adipose tissue remodeling and plasticity among weight loss interventions. This ongoing longitudinal prospective study aims to recruit both male and female patients with obesity to compare the minimally invasive sleeve gastrectomy or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass versus conventional incretin drug weight loss. To measure adipose tissue plasticity, lipoaspirates will be collected and metabolic parameters will be analyzed in blood samples collected, pre- and post-intervention (three months). Histological analysis, Real-Time quantitative PCR, and western blotting will be conducted on the adipose tissue samples. Statistical analyses: Mixed Linear Model with repeated measures, will be used to examine the differences between the groups, with a significance level set at p d 0.05.