Elevated Blood Levels of VEGF Exhibiting Positive Correlation with HIF-1α in Obesity: A Single Center Study

Authors : Nazmiye Uluergüven, Durkadın Demir Ekşi, Erkan Maytalman, Ramazan Güneşaçar

Pages : 1-8

View : 31 | Download : 24

Publication Date : 2025-04-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :Aim: The objective of this study was to investigate the relevance of plasma hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in obesity and their associations with body mass index (BMI), body fat percentage, and waist to-hip ratio. Material and Methods: The study included 45 obese subjects and 28 healthy controls recruited from a private clinic in Manavgat, Antalya. The measurement of BMI, percentage of body fat, and waist-to-hip ratio was conducted in all subjects using a bioelectrical impedance analysis device. The plasma levels of HIF-1α and VEGF were measured using the micro-ELISA method. Results: In the Mann-Whitney U test, HIF-1α levels were similar in obese subjects (median=1.439 ng/L [Interquartile range (IQR)=11.62, min-max=0.904-12.53] and control group (median=1.377 ng/L [1.323, 0.852-2.175], p=0.0821). VEGF levels were found to be significantly higher in obese subjects compared to the controls (medians; 729.8 ng/L [5515, 485.3-6000] vs. 589.5 ng/L, [416.8, 396.4-813.2], respectively, p<0.0001). In Spearman correlation analysis, VEGF and HIF-1α levels were shown to be strongly positively correlated in obese subjects (rho=0.598, p<0.00001). Both the waist-to-hip ratio and body fat percentage also showed significant positive correlations with BMI in the obese group (rho=0.663, p<0.0001 for waist-to-hip ratio, and rho=0.313, p=0.036 for body fat percentage). In addition, circulating VEGF exhibited strong potential as a biomarker for obesity (AUC=0.813, p=0.001). Conclusion: Elevated plasma levels of VEGF and the strong positive correlation between HIF-1α and VEGF indicate the potential involvement of hypoxia in the progression of obesity. These findings underscore the potential significance of HIF-1α and VEGF in the pathogenesis of obesity. In this study, VEGF was found to be a potential biomarker for obesity.
Keywords : Obezite, Vasküler endotelyal büyüme faktörü, Hipoksi indükleyici faktör 1 alfa, Vücut kitle indeksi