Association between indices of body mass and antibody titers to heat-shock protein-27 in healthy subjects Shima Tavallaie a , Amir Ali Rahsepar a, b, c , Hamid Abdi a , Mohsen Moohebati a, b , Fatemeh Moodi a, b , Hossein Pourghadamyari a , Habibollah Esmaily d , Fatemeh Khorashadizadeh d , Majid Ghayour-Mobarhan a, b, ⁎, Gordon A.A. Ferns e a Cardiovascular Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Science (MUMS), Mashhad, Iran b Biochemistry and Nutrition Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, MUMS, Mashhad, Iran c Young Researchers Club, Mashhad Branch, Islamic Azad University, Mashhad, Iran d Department of Biostatistics and Health sciences research center, school of Health, MUMS, Post Code: 9138813944, Mashhad, Iran e Institute for Science & Technology in Medicine, Thornburrow Drive, University of Keele, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire ST4 7QB, UK abstract article info Article history: Received 13 July 2011 Received in revised form 26 September 2011 Accepted 27 September 2011 Available online 14 October 2011 Keywords: Obesity Heat shock protein Antibody Objectives: We have assessed the relationship between indices of adiposity and antibody titers to Hsp-27 in healthy subjects. Design: Two-hundred and fifty subjects were studied, including 50 normal-weight subjects (body-mass- index (BMI) 25 kg/m 2 ), 100 overweight subjects (BMI 25 to 30 kg/m 2 )(n =100) and 100 obese subjects (BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ). Results: Anti-Hsp27-antibody levels in obese subjects were [0.34 (0.20–0.39) absorbency unit], being signif- icantly higher than overweight and normal-weight groups (P b 0.05). Anti-Hsp27-antibody levels in overweight subjects [0.29 (0.15–0.34) absorbency unit] were statistically higher than controls [0.18 (0.10–0.23) absorbency unit] (P b 0.05). Conclusion: High anti-Hsp-27-antibody levels in obese-subjects without established coronary disease may be related to a heightened state of immunoactivation associated with obesity. © 2011 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Introduction Atherosclerosis is a chronic multi-factorial process that underlies the pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease (CVD). One of the modifiable risk factors for CVD is obesity, in which abdominal or visceral obesity particularly acts as an independent and modifiable risk factor for vascular events such as cardio/cerebrovascular events. The Hsps are highly conserved families of proteins found in the cells of all organisms and several of them are known to function as molecular chaperones. The Hsps may be divided into seven major families according to their molecular weights. HSP expression is increased in response to several environmental stresses [1]. It has been suggested that an immune response to Hsps, either endogenously derived from cells involved in atherogenesis, or exogenously, from micro-organisms, may lead to complement-mediated endothelial injury and subsequent atherosclerosis. Since then many other animal or human studies have shown the strong and positive relationship between CVD and presence of high anti-Hsp antibodies levels in blood stream of their subjects (reviewed by Ghayour-Mobarhan et al. [1]). Whilst most of the past studies have focused on Hsp-65 and -70, there has been recent interest and investigations of the possible role of the smaller Hsps, such as Hsp27, in CVD [1]. Martin et al. [2] reported Hsp-27 was able to protect cardiac myocytes from the effect of ischemia and that decreasing the level of endogenous Hsp27 resulted in an enhancement of the damaging effects of a subsequent ischemic stimulus. These findings suggest that Hsp27 may also be protective in myocardial cells. It has also been proposed that Hsp27 may be a putative auto-antigen involved during atherogenesis [3]. It is reported that high antibody titers against Hsp27 are associated with cardiovascular events [4]. Thus, we aimed to evaluate the hypotheses that anti-Hsp27 could be affected by obesity and to assess the association between its levels and indices of obesity, as a risk factor for CVD, and anti-Hsp27 antibody levels in patients without overt clinically CVD. Materials and methods Two-hundred and fifty subjects including normal-weight (n = 50), overweight (n = 100) and obese subjects (n = 100) were Clinical Biochemistry 45 (2012) 144–147 Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CVD, cardiovascular disease; FBS, fasting blood Sugar; HDL-C, high density lipoprotein-cholesterol; HSP, heat shock protein; LDL-C, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol. ⁎ Corresponding author at: Mashhad University of Medical Science, Mashhad, Iran. Fax: +98 511 8827040. E-mail address: ghayourm@mums.ac.ir (M. Ghayour-Mobarhan). 0009-9120/$ – see front matter © 2011 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.clinbiochem.2011.09.022 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Clinical Biochemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/clinbiochem