Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Flow-Mediated Vasodilation as a Measure of Endothelial Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Tannaz Jamialahmadi, Mona Alidadi, Stephen L. Atkin, Matthew Kroh, Wael Almahmeed, Seyed Adel Moallem, Khalid Al-Rasadi, John H. Rodriguez, Raul D. Santos, Massimiliano Ruscica, Amirhossein Sahebkar*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Flow mediated vasodilation (FMD) is a marker of endothelial function and its decline is related to increased cardiovascular risk. This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the impact of bariatric surgery on FMD.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A systematic literature search in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science was performed to 1 May 2021. Meta-analysis was performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) V2 software. All types of bariatric surgery were considered, with the inclusion that FMD had to have been tested before and after the surgical procedure. Meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effects model and the generic inverse variance approach. The leave-one-out approach was used for sensitivity analysis. To assess metabolic parameter confounders, a weighted random-effects meta-regression was used.

RESULTS: A meta-analysis and a systematic review of 23 studies (n = 891 individuals) demonstrated improvement in FMD following bariatric surgery (weighted mean difference (WMD): 5.867, 95% CI: 4.481, 7.252, p < 0.001; I 2: 96.70). Iteratively removing each item in the meta-analysis did not result in a significant alteration in the pooled estimate of effect size. There was an improvement in FMD for up to 6 months following bariatric surgery in a meta-analysis from 7 trials that included 356 subjects (WMD: 5.248, 95% CI: 2.361, 8.135, p < 0.001; I 2: 98.18). The meta-analysis from 9 trials (n = 414 subjects) showed an improvement in FMD 6 to 12 months after bariatric surgery (WMD: 5.451, 95% CI: 3.316, 7.587, p < 0.001; I 2: 94.18). The meta-analysis from 10 trials (n = 414 subjects) demonstrated an improvement in FMD 12 months after bariatric surgery (WMD: 2.401, 95% CI: 0.944, 3.859, p = 0.001; I 2: 88.35). Random-effects meta-regression did not show any association between the alteration in FMD and percent body mass index (BMI) change (slope: 0.0258; 95% CI: -0.323, 0.375; p = 0.884), or changes in blood pressure; however, there was an association between the changes in FMD and the duration of follow-up (slope: -0.106; 95% CI: -0.205, -0.008; p = 0.033) with greater changes in FMD after 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS: Bariatric surgery significantly improved FMD that increased with time, and the resultant improvement in endothelial function was independent of weight loss or a reduction in blood pressure.

Original languageEnglish
Article number4054
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume11
Issue number14
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 13 2022

Keywords

  • bariatric surgery
  • body mass index
  • endothelial function
  • flow-mediated vasodilation
  • meta-analysis

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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