AJP - Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol 262, Issue 3 E282-E288, Copyright © 1992 by American Physiological Society

ARTICLES

24-hour energy expenditure and sympathetic activity in postobese women consuming a high-carbohydrate diet

A. Astrup, B. Buemann, N. J. Christensen and J. Madsen
Department of Human Nutrition, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Frederiksberg, Copenhagen, Denmark.

It has been suggested that the energy expenditure (EE) of formerly obese subjects (postobese) is highly susceptible to the dietary carbohydrate content and that a high dietary carbohydrate-to-fat ratio may increase their 24-h EE. We studied eight obese women before and after weight normalization (postobese state) and compared them with eight matched controls. Twenty-four hour EE, substrate oxidations, and 24-h heart rate were measured in respiratory chambers on a fixed physical program, while the postobese and controls were in macronutrient balance on a high-carbohydrate diet. Mean 24-h EE decreased from the obese to the postobese state (P less than 0.01), but it remained higher in the postobese women than in the controls (8,292 +/- 153 vs. 7,646 +/- 190 kJ/day, P = 0.01). The higher EE in the postobese group was entirely covered by a 22% higher carbohydrate oxidation (P = 0.006). The mean 24-h heart rate, as measured by telemetry, was also higher in the postobese group than in the control group (74 vs. 66 beats/min, P less than 0.03). Plasma norepinephrine (NE) concentrations were greater by 50% in the postobese as compared with the controls (P = 0.004), and differences in plasma NE concentrations entirely accounted for the group difference in 24-h EE and heart rate between postobese and controls, as analyzed by stepwise regression analysis. We conclude that postobese women on a high-carbohydrate-low-fat diet have an enhanced sympathetic nervous system activity, which is responsible for the higher 24-h EE and heart rate. These findings may have implications for understanding the pathophysiology and for the treatment of obesity.

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