Author(s): YOSHIDA T; SAKANE N; UMEKAWA T; KONDO M

Title: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BASAL METABOLIC-RATE, THERMOGENIC RESPONSE TO CAFFEINE, AND BODY-WEIGHT LOSS FOLLOWING COMBINED LOW-CALORIE AND EXERCISE TREATMENT IN OBESE WOMEN

Source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBESITY 18 (5): 345-350

Date: 1994 MAY

Document Type: Journal : Article

Language: English

LCR: 4   CR: 32   LCS: 0   GCS: 17

Comment:  

Address:  

Reprint: YOSHIDA, T, KYOTO PREFECTURAL UNIV MED,DEPT INTERNAL MED 1,KAMIKYO
KU,KYOTO 602,JAPAN.

Abstract: To clarify whether there were any differences in basal metabolic rate (BMR) and thermogenic response to caffeine in individual obese women, and it so, whether such differences affected weight loss, the basal and resting metabolic rates at 30 min after a caffeine loading test (4 mg/kg ideal body weight, per os) were measured in 136 obese women and ten lean age-matched controls. The obese subjects were then asked to follow a combined low calorie diet and exercise regimen. There were no differences in the BMR and thermogenic responses to caffeine between the obese and lean groups. However, the BMR end the thermogenic responses to caffeine varied widely in obese subjects. After two months of treatment, body weight and percentage body fat in obese women were significantly (P < 0.001) reduced. There were significant correlations between the BMR and body weight loss (r = 0.3621, P < 0.001), between BMR/lean body mass and body weight loss (r = 0.3196, P < 0.001) and between the thermogenic response to caffeine and body weight loss (r = 0.6943, P < 0.001). When the criterion of a BMR less than 3.10 kJ/min (less than two standard deviations below the mean of the age-matched lean control) was used to define an obese group with reduced BMR, there were 30 obese subjects in this group, and their body weight was significantly decreased by treatment. When the criterion of less than 5.2% of the thermogenic response to caffeine (less than two standard deviations below the mean of the lean group) was used to define an obese group with reduced thermogenic response to caffeine, there were 24 obese subjects in this group. Their body weight was not reduced after treatment. These results indicate that there were considerable individual variations within the group of obese women with regard to the BMR and thermogenic response to caffeine, although there were no differences between the obese and lean groups. There were significant correlations between body weight loss after treatment and the BMR, BMR/lean body mass and thermogenic response to caffeine. These findings indicated that a reduced thermogenic response to caffeine would be a more appropriate index than BMR to predict body weight loss after treatment; obese subjects with reduced thermogenic responses to caffeine could find it difficult to lose body weight with conventional treatment.