Serum fetuin-A, coenzyme Q10 and plasma fatty acid levels in obese and healthy subjects

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate serum fetuin-A, coenzyme Q10 and plasma fatty acids profiles in obese and healthy subjects. Subjects & Methods: The study was performed on a total of 105 obese subjects (22 male and 83 female) aged 38.3 ± 12.9 years and 80 healthy subjects (20 male and 60 female) aged 36.3 ŷ 11.3 years. Plasma fatty acid composition was measured by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, serum coenzyme Q10 level was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography and serum fetuin-A level was measured by ELISA methods. Results: Plasma myristic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid, 10c-heptadecanoic acid, linoleic acid, heneikosanoic acid, saturated fatty acids levels and D9-desaturase activity of the obese subjects were significantly higher (p ü 0.05), whereas behenic acid levels and elongase activity were significantly lower (p ü 0.05) than the same parameters in the controls. There were no significant differences between plasma monounsaturated fatty acids, polyunsaturated fatty acids, serum coenzyme Q10 and fetuin-A levels in either of the groups. Discussion: Our results demonstrate that plasma saturated fatty acid levels of obese subjects were significantly increased. Also, the plasma levels of some fatty acids and enzyme activities of both groups were significantly different from each other. The role of these findings in the development of obesity needs to be investigated further. In addition, our results, demonstrating that fetuin-A levels were not associated with BMI or waist circumference, suggest that fetuin-A may not play a critical role in the development of obesity.