Peptide‐YY Levels after a Fat Load in Black and White Women

Abstract

To determine whether basal plasma peptide-YY (PYY) levels in overweight, middle-aged black women are different from those of white women of similar BMI and age and ascertain whether there is a difference between the two groups in plasma PYY levels in response to a liquid high fat load. Using a commercial radioimmunoassay kit, the concentration of PYY was measured at baseline and at 2, 4, 6, and 8 hours after ingesting a fatty liquid meal (86.5% of the calories from fat) in 12 black and 12 white women who were matched for age and BMI. PYY levels (picograms per milliliter) at baseline and at every other time-point of the test meal were significantly lower in the black than in the white group. In addition, the change in PYY concentration from baseline was lower in the black than in the white group only at 8 hours after the meal. The lower baseline level and the blunted PYY response of the black women to the fat load indicated that this signal for appetite suppression was reduced, which, in turn, might contribute to the enhanced obesity of the black women.