ArticleObesity (Silver Spring, Md.)2009
Are natural killer cells protecting the metabolically healthy obese patient?
Article in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01847313 (Phase 3 Study of the Effect of Glucagon-like-peptide 1), which is not on this map. Cited by 116 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Phase 3 Study of the Effect of Glucagon-like-peptide 1 (GLP-1) Receptor Agonism on Renal Outcomes in Humans With Diabetic Kidney Disease
Who cites it
116 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Meta-analysis of natural killer cell cytotoxicity in myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Natural killer cell levels in adults living with type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies.BMC immunology · 2020Pooled it
- Impaired natural killer cell subset phenotypes in human obesity.Immunologic research · 2018Trial
- Protein quantitative trait locus study in obesity during weight-loss identifies a leptin regulator.Nature communications · 2017Trial
- Trial
- Natural killer (NK) cell deficit in coronary artery disease: no aberrations in phenotype but sustained reduction of NK cells is associated with low-grade inflammation.Clinical and experimental immunology · 2014Trial
- Review
- Association of peripheral natural killer cell percentage with age, body mass index, serum anti- Müllerian hormone, various autoantibodies, and thrombophilia-related markers in women undergoing in vitro fertilization.Clinical and experimental reproductive medicine · 2026Article
- Oestrogen changes at menopause: insights into obesity-associated breast risk and outcomes.Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2026Review
- Article
- Single-cell transcriptome atlas and genome-wide Mendelian randomization reveal chemokine involvement in diverse immune cells in type 2 diabetes.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2025Article
- Beyond the BMI Paradox: Unraveling the Cellular and Molecular Determinants of Metabolic Health in Obesity.Biomolecules · 2025Review
- The Role of Obesity in the Regulation of Immunosuppressive Cell Infiltration and Immunosurveillance in Cancers.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Physiology of Weight Regain after Weight Loss: Latest Insights.Current obesity reports · 2025Review
- Immunometabolic Changes Following Gastric Bypass and Sleeve Gastrectomy: A Comparative Study.Obesity surgery · 2025Observational
- Real-time ex vivo monitoring of NK cell migration toward obesity-associated oesophageal adenocarcinoma following modulation of CX3CR1.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Metabolically Abnormal Non-Obese Phenotype Is Significantly Associated with All-Cause Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Article
- Obesity, Dietary Fats, and Gastrointestinal Cancer Risk-Potential Mechanisms Relating to Lipid Metabolism and Inflammation.Metabolites · 2024Review
- Transcriptional profiles associated with coronary artery disease in type 2 diabetes mellitus.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Article
- Article
56 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
With the emerging obesity pandemic, identifying those who appear to be protected from adverse consequences such as type 2 diabetes and certain malignancies will become important. We propose that the circulating immune system plays a role in the development of these comorbidities. Clinical data and blood samples were collected from 52 patients with severe obesity attending a hospital weight-management clinic and 11 lean healthy controls. Patients were classified into metabolically "healthy obese" (n = 26; mean age 42.6 years, mean BMI 46.8 kg/m(2)) or "unhealthy obese" (n = 26; mean age 45 years, mean BMI 47.5 kg/m(2)) groups, based upon standard cutoff points for blood pressure, lipid profile, and fasting glucose. Circulating lymphoid populations and phenotypes were assessed by flow cytometry. Obese patients had significantly less circulating natural killer (NK) and cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) compared to lean controls. There were significantly higher levels of NK cells and CTLs in the healthy obese group compared to the unhealthy obese group (NK: 11.7% vs. 6.5%, P < 0.0001, CD8 13.4% vs. 9.3%, P = 0.04), independent of age and BMI and these NK cells were also less activated in the healthy compared to the unhealthy group (CD69, 4.1% vs. 11.8%, P = 0.03). This is the first time that quantitative differences in the circulating immune system of obese patients with similar BMI but different metabolic profiles have been described. The significantly higher levels of CTLs and NK cells, which express fewer inhibitory molecules, could protect against malignancy, infection, and metabolic disease seen in obesity.
Indexed as
Identifiers
19238145What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.