Background: The mechanism by which normal body mass index (BMI) with central adiposity (NWCA) increases the risk of the diseases has not been completely elucidated. The inflammatory role of immunoglobulin G (IgG) N -glycosylation in obesity defined by BMI or central adiposity defined by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was reported, respectively. We undertook this three-center cross-sectional study to determine the association between the IgG N -glycans and NWCA.
Methods: The participants were categorized into four different phenotypes: normal BMI with normal WHR (NW), normal BMI with central adiposity (NWCA), obesity with normal WHR (ONCA) and obesity with central adiposity (OCA). The IgG N -glycans were analyzed using ultra-performance liquid chromatography analysis of released glycans, and differences among groups were compared.
Results: In total, 17 out of 24 initial IgG N -glycans were significantly different among the four groups (NW, ONCA, NWCA and OCA) (P <0.05/6*78=0.0001). The changes of IgG glycans in central obesity (12 GPs) were more than those in obesity (3 GPs). In addition, lower galactosylation and bisecting GlcNAc and higher fucosylation were associated with increased risk of NWCA.
Conclusion: Central obesity was involved in more changes of IgG N -glycosylation representing stronger inflammation than obesity, which might make a greater contribution to the risk of related disorders. NWCA was associated with an increased pro-inflammatory of IgG N -glycosylation, which was accompanied by the development of central obesity and other related disorders.
Keywords: body mass index, BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, WHR, normal BMI with central adiposity, immunoglobulin G, N -glycosylation, N -glycan