Adult obesity phenotypes and their clinical relevance. Narrative review

Authors

  • Ana Ochoa Nieto Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador
  • Hermel Espinosa Espinosa Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador
  • Carem Prieto Fuenmayor Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14482/sun.40.03.900.259

Keywords:

Obesity, phenotype, metabolic syndrome, physiology, pathology.

Abstract

Obesity, a multifactorial disease caused by the alteration of the function of adipose tissue causing chronic and systematic inflammation. Considered as one of the main problems facing society in this century, with an increase in its worldwide incidence becoming a health problem, due to its growth, it has been considered as a global epidemic, named as globesity in 2011 by the World Health Organization (WHO).  

Obesity, together with metabolic syndrome, helps us to describe 4 groups of phenotypes without a clear consensus; the reviewed groups include metabolically healthy obese, metabolically abnormal obese, metabolically abnormal, normal weight, and sarcopenic obese. 

The objective of this review was to describe each of the metabolic phenotypes and to identify the most common pathologies associated with each of these phenotypes by conducting a narrative review of the literature. Conclusion: This work has shown that there are no unified protocols for the diagnosis of each phenotype of obesity, also, each phenotype has particular characteristics in terms of detection and presentation in body composition, however, they are associated with the imminent development of metabolic syndrome, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. 

Author Biographies

Ana Ochoa Nieto, Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador

Médico general, Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador. Estudiante maestría en Obesidad y sus Comorbilidades de la misma universidad. arochoan00@est.ucacue.edu.ec. https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1710-0012 

Hermel Espinosa Espinosa, Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador

Médico general, especialista en Medicina Interna y magíster en Investigación de la Salud, Universidad de Cuenca, Ecuador. Máster universitario en Prevención de Riesgos Laborales, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja. Docente Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador. hespinozae@ucacue.edu.ec. https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8217-2135 

Carem Prieto Fuenmayor, Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador

Licenciatura en Bioanálisis, maestría en Metabolismo Humano y doctorado en Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Zulia, Maracaibo (Venezuela). Docente  Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Ecuador. carem.prieto@ucacue.edu.ec. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7752-932X

Published

2024-12-17

How to Cite

Ochoa Nieto, A., Espinosa Espinosa, H., & Prieto Fuenmayor, C. (2024). Adult obesity phenotypes and their clinical relevance. Narrative review . Salud Uninorte, 40(3), 1067–1082. https://doi.org/10.14482/sun.40.03.900.259