Weight Loss and Twins
Weight Loss Study Aim
To assess intrapair resemblance in changes of body weight, total body
fat, fat distribution, resting metabolic rate, fasting respiratory quotient
and cardiovascular disease risk factors in response to therapeutic weight
loss in female obese identical twins.
Weight Loss Study Method
Patients stayed for 40 days on an inpatient metabolic unit under careful
supervision. The stay was divided into three parts: an initial period
of 7 days for adjustment to the hospital environment and for baseline
measurements, 28 days of the weight reduction regimen when negative energy
balance was achieved mainly by a very low calorie diet (1.6 MJ per day)
and 5 days of testing after weight reduction.
Weight Loss Study Subjects
Fourteen pairs of pre menopausal female obese identical twins.
Weight Loss Study Measurements
Before and after weight loss, the following measurements were made: body
composition by anthropometry and hydrodensitometry, intra-abdominal fat
by ultrasonography, resting metabolic rate by indirect calorimetry. Total
cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol, triglycerides and uric
acid were determined by standard laboratory procedures. Blood pressure
was measured in the morning in the recumbent position.
Weight Loss Study Results
Subjects lost 8.8±1.9 kg of weight, from 93.9±21.2 to 85.1±10.9
kg and 6.5±2.3 kg of body fat. Weight losses varied widely among
subjects, with a high correlation between losses of members of twin pairs
for body weight and for body fat. Changes in uric acid resulting from
weight loss were also correlated among members of twin pairs whereas changes
in blood pressure, cholesterol and triglycerides were not.
Weight Loss Study Conclusion
The great intrapair resemblance observed in very low calorie diet-induced
weight and fat losses in female obese identical twins suggests an important
role of genetic factors in response to the weight reduction regimen.
Source: International Journal of Obesity
(2000)
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