The Metabolic Response to a Standardized High Fat, High Calorie Meal in Healthy Obese Individuals is Similar to that of Healthy Lean Individuals

Obesity is associated with numerous health complications; however, a subgroup of individuals (termed the metabolically healthy obese or MHO) may be protected from the cardiometabolic complications typically associated with a high body mass index. We previously showed that MHO individuals have reduced levels of serum inflammatory markers and saturated fatty acids (FAs), as well as altered adipose tissue amino acid homeostasis, compared to their metabolically unhealthy obese (MUO) counterparts. Building on this past foundational work, the goal of this study was to examine the postprandial metabolic response to a standardized high fat, high calorie meal in lean healthy (LH), MHO, and MUO individuals. Blood glucose and insulin levels were measured during the 2 h postprandial period and used to calculate the area under the curve (AUC). The AUC for both glucose and insulin were similar between LH and MHO individuals, and significantly lower compared to MUO individuals (p<0.05). Gas chromatography and capillary electrophoresis‐mass spectrometry revealed significant postprandial differences in several FAs and amino acids, respectively, between MHO and MUO individuals. Furthermore, we found that baseline levels of various FAs and amino acids were predictive of the glycemic and insulinemic postprandial response. Taken together, our results highlight that MHO individuals represent an important subgroup of obesity that appear to have a preserved metabolic response to a challenge meal in comparison to their MUO counterparts. Grant Funding Source: Supported by CIHR