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. 2025 Feb 8;61(2):293.
doi: 10.3390/medicina61020293.

What Is the Impact of Obesity-Related Comorbidities on the Risk of Premature Aging in Patients with Severe Obesity?: A Cross-Sectional Study

Alicja Dudek  1   2 , Barbara Zapała  3 , Aleksandra Gorostowicz  4 , Ilona Kawa  1 , Karol Ciszek  1 , Piotr Tylec  1 , Katarzyna Cyranka  4   5 , Wojciech Sierocki  6 , Michał Wysocki  7 , Piotr Major  1
Affiliations

What Is the Impact of Obesity-Related Comorbidities on the Risk of Premature Aging in Patients with Severe Obesity?: A Cross-Sectional Study

Alicja Dudek et al. Medicina (Kaunas). .

Abstract

Background and Objectives: The relationships between aging, chronic diseases, and obesity remain complex and poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate the impact of comorbidities on premature aging in individuals with severe obesity. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 99 bariatric patients with severe obesity (SG) and 30 healthy volunteers (HC). SG was further divided into subgroups based on comorbidity status. Various markers of biological aging, including interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), telomere length (TL), attention speed, executive functions, and metabolic age, were evaluated. Results: Both subgroups of patients with obesity presented elevated levels of IL-6 and CRP, shorter TLs, lower outcomes in executive functioning tests, and greater metabolic age than healthy subjects. However, no significant differences were observed between patients with obesity with and without comorbidities. This study highlighted the impact of BMI on increased inflammation and revealed that hypertension and inflammation are associated with cognitive decline. Conclusions: These findings suggest that obesity, regardless of comorbidities, contributes to premature aging. The presence of hypertension was linked to cognitive function decline, emphasizing the multifaceted implications of obesity for the aging process.

Keywords: biological age markers; obesity; premature aging.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Dot plots representing the differences in levels of biological age markers between O+C, O−C, and HC. CRP—C-reactive protein, CTT-1 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test, CTT-2 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test 2, HC—healthy controls, IL-6—interleukin-6, O+C—patients with obesity and comorbidities, O−C—patients without comorbidities, TL—telomere length, blue line—median. The figure was created using Microsoft Excel version 16.66.1 (22101101).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Dot plots representing the differences in levels of biological age markers between O+C, O−C, and HC. CRP—C-reactive protein, CTT-1 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test, CTT-2 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test 2, HC—healthy controls, IL-6—interleukin-6, O+C—patients with obesity and comorbidities, O−C—patients without comorbidities, TL—telomere length, blue line—median. The figure was created using Microsoft Excel version 16.66.1 (22101101).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Dot plots representing the differences in levels of biological age markers between O+C, O−C, and HC. CRP—C-reactive protein, CTT-1 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test, CTT-2 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test 2, HC—healthy controls, IL-6—interleukin-6, O+C—patients with obesity and comorbidities, O−C—patients without comorbidities, TL—telomere length, blue line—median. The figure was created using Microsoft Excel version 16.66.1 (22101101).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Dot plots representing the differences in levels of biological age markers between O+C, O−C, and HC. CRP—C-reactive protein, CTT-1 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test, CTT-2 TEN—TEN results from the Color Trails Test 2, HC—healthy controls, IL-6—interleukin-6, O+C—patients with obesity and comorbidities, O−C—patients without comorbidities, TL—telomere length, blue line—median. The figure was created using Microsoft Excel version 16.66.1 (22101101).
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