Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity

Research Article

Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet and Circulating Levels of Sirtuin 4 in Obese Patients: A Novel Association

Table 3

Sociodemographic and anthropometric characteristics, metabolic profile, and circulating levels of Sirt4 in obese individuals grouped on the basis of the adherence to the Mediterranean diet.


Parameters	Obese Low adherence MD	Obese Average adherence MD	value

Age (years)	38.1 ± 3.4	35.9 ± 7.7	0.356
Gender M/F	8/8	11/16	0.784
Anthropometric measurement
BMI (kg/m²)	52.0 ± 3.4	42.4 ± 2.9	<0.001
WC males (cm)	151.1 ± 9.8	136.8 ± 11.6	0.012
WC females (cm)	144.4 ± 17.1	125.4 ± 15.4	0.012
Metabolic profile
Circulating levels of Sirt4 (ng/mL)	0.16 (0.10–0.29)	1.33 (0.11–5.56)	<0.001
SBP (mmHg)	136.0 ± 12.4	127.4 ± 10.7	0.022
DBP (mmHg)	85.0 (70.0–100.0)	80.0 (60.0–95.0)	0.090
Fasting glucose (mg/dL)	109.0 (73.0–143.0)	94.0 (68.0–193.0)	0.004
Insulin (μU/mL)	36.1 ± 7.9	26.7 ± 8.5	0.001
Total cholesterol (mg/dL)	211.1 ± 31.9	179.4 ± 27.4	0.003
HDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	36.8 ± 6.1	51.3 ± 11.1	<0.001
LDL cholesterol (mg/dL)	134.9 ± 23.0	102.8 ± 26.5	<0.001
Triglycerides (mg/dL)	171.5 (89.0–380.0)	101.0 (49.0–283.0)	0.015
ALT (U/L)	38.0 (12.0–91.0)	32.0 (13.0–99.0)	0.439
AST (U/L)	25.0 (12.0–52.0)	23.0 (10.0–91.0)	0.793
γGT (U/L)	30.0 (12.0–61.0)	30.5 (14.0–101.0)	0.776
Metabolic indices
HoMA-IR	10.0 ± 3.0	6.4 ± 2.4	<0.001
VAI	8.5 (3.3–17.3)	4.7 (1.6–15.8)	0.003
HS evaluation
HS (grade 1/2/3)	0/1/15	4/9/14	<0.001
FLI	99.9 (98.8–100.0)	98.7 (80.3–99.9)	<0.001

Obese individuals with low adherence to the MD exhibited statistically significant differences in anthropometric measurements, metabolic profile, metabolic indices, and HS evaluation compared with average adherer counterpart. No differences were observed in age and male-to-female ratio. Results are expressed as mean ± standard deviation or as median plus range according to variable distributions evaluated by Kolmogorov–Smirnov test. Differences between groups were analyzed by unpaired Student’s t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test, when appropriate. The chi² (χ²) test was used to test the significance of differences between the two groups. value indicates comparison between those with low adherence versus those with average adherence to the MD. A value in bold type denotes a significant difference (). MD: Mediterranean diet; BMI: body mass index; WC: waist circumference; Sirt4: sirtuin 4; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; HDL: high-density lipoprotein; LDL: low-density lipoprotein; ALT: alanine aminotransferase; AST: aspartate aminotransferase; γGT: gamma glutamyl transferase: HoMA-IR: homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance; VAI: visceral adiposity index; HS: hepatic steatosis; FLI: fatty liver index.