Obesity and Oxidative Stress

Abstract

In this issue of Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology , Keaney and colleagues1 report that smoking, diabetes, and obesity are independently associated with increased oxidative stress in men and women in a large community-based cohort. While a number of investigators have examined the association between risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and markers of oxidative stress in small clinical samples, Keaney and colleagues1 used the Framingham Offspring Cohort to assess CVD risk and urinary concentrations of the F2-isoprostane 8-epiPGF2α in more than 2800 men and women between 33 and 88 years of age. Although smoking and diabetes have been associated with increased oxidative stress in a number of studies, the finding that obesity, as measured by body mass index (BMI), is independently associated with oxidative stress is relatively new and confirms recent data from much smaller samples.2,3⇓ See pages 368 and 434 F2-Isoprostanes are prostaglandin-like products of the free radical-catalyzed peroxidation of arachidonic acid. They are formed in situ esterified to phospholipids and are released into plasma by phospholipases.4 Plasma and urinary F2-isoprostanes are established biomarkers of lipid peroxidation in vivo.5 In humans, F2-isoprostanes are elevated in the presence of diabetes,6 hypercholesterolemia,7 end stage renal disease and hemodialysis,8 hyperhomocysteinemia,9 and cigarette smoking.2 Elevated concentrations of F2-isoprostanes have also been found in human atherosclerotic lesions.10 In addition to serving as biomarkers of oxidative stress, F2-isoprostanes, including 8-epiPGF2α, exert (patho)physiological effects …