The Comparison of the Lipid Profiles of the Overweighted/ Obese and Normal Weighted Male and Female Patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS): A Cross Sectional Pilot Study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of the study was to determine the overweight/obesity status, plasma total cholesterol and triglyceride levels in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Subjects and Methods: This study was conducted on 63 MS patients (41 female, 22 male) who have applied to Ankara Numune Education and Research Hospital, Department of Neurology. Body composition analysis [body fat mass (kg), body fat percentage (%), fat free mass (kg) and body water (kg)] was measured by bioelectrical impedance analyzer (BIA) at the Department of Nutrition and Dietetics in Gazi University. The lipid profile [total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), very low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C) and triglyceride (TG)] of each participant was measured. Results: The mean age was found 35.1 ± 8.90 years for females, 34.6 ± 8.19 years for males (20-56 years). Overweight/obesity was found more prevalent in females than in males (41.5% of the females and 36.3% of the males had higher body mass index (BMI) (>25.0 kg/m2), respectively). While the body fat mass (FM) (p= 0.048) and fat percentage (FP) (p< 0.001) measurements were high in females; fat free mass (FFM) (p<0.001) and total body water (p<0.001) measurements were found to be higher in males. Conclusion: It was concluded that obesity was more prevalent in females and was also a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in MS subjects in this study.