Pakistan J. Zool., vol. 43(3), pp. 489-495, 2011. Quantitative Profiling of Serum Protein Fractions in Young Obese Human Afia M. Akram*, Rida Ali, Nabila Roohi and Ayesha Ilyas Department of Zoology, University of the Punjab, Lahore-54590, Pakistan Abstract.- Study concerns the investigation of electrophoretically separated serum protein profile of obese (n=18) and control persons (n=9) with ages ranging 20-40 years. Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoreses (SDS-PAGE) was performed to study the serum protein fractions. The data was quantified by Gene Genius Bio-imaging Gel Documentation system and analyzed statistically using Student‘t’ test to find out the difference of particular protein fractions in obese subjects when compared to controls. Fourteen protein fractions were detected ranging between 152-15 kDa. Protein fractions of 114, 34, 30, and 17 kDa did not vary considerably. Significant elevation in 38, 26 and 20 kDa protein fractions, whereas, significant reduction in 152, 131, 76, 66, 49 and 43 kDa protein fractions was observed. Protein fraction of 15 kDa, observed in normal subjects, failed to manifest in any of the obese individuals. Serum protein profile, suggests that some fraction alterations in obese individuals are strong indicators of their roles in alteration of body mass. Key words: Obesity, protein profile, SDS-PAGE. INTRODUCTION Obesity is a condition having an excess and unhealthy proportion of reserve fat or adipose tissue in the body (Aronne and Segal, 2002) .This excess fat deposition is due to a chronic positive shift of the energy equation resulting from increases in energy input, decreases in energy output, or both (Bray, 1987). Body Mass Index (BMI), defined as weight (kg)/height squared (m 2 ) is the most frequently used measure of weight in relation to height, by the researchers nowadays (Sweeting, 2007). Many of our sociocultural traditions promote overeating and the preferential consumption of high calorie foods. This may impact energy balance and overweight development (Nicolaou et al., 2009). Obesity alters adipose tissue metabolic and endocrine function and leads to an increased release of fatty acids, hormones, and proinflammatory molecules that contribute to obesity associated complications (Stuart et al., 2003). These disorders include hypertension, dyslipidemia, and glucose intolerance. It is an independent risk factor for, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and certain cancers (Rahmouni et al., 2005). ______________________ * Corresponding author: afiaakram@hotmail.com 0030-9923/2011/0003-0489 $ 8.00/0 Copyright 2011 Zoological Society of Pakistan. Benedek et al. (1984) suggested that the total serum proteins, when calculated in control verses obese subjects were found to be elevated. Elevated levels of inflammation-sensitive plasma proteins (ISPs) fibrinogen, orosomucoid, alpha1-antitrypsin, haptoglobin, and ceruloplasmin, are associated with weight gain (Engstrom et al., 2003). In various studies, Serum albumin and total protein concentrations in the obese were not different from controls (Abernethy et al., 1981). Even the obese subjects showed a markedly decreased serum albumin concentration as compared to non-obese controls (Andersen et al., 1984). In addition, the concentrations of serum alpha 1-acid glycoprotein, growth hormone binding protein (GHBP), ferritin and retinol-binding protein 4 (RBP4), increase with increasing weight. It has been observed that serum alpha-2-macroglobulin and albumin is inversely related to the nutritional intake (Pongpaew et al.,1991; Janke et al., 2006). Aim of the present study was to assess the effects of obesity and weight gain on serum protein profile of obese persons and their comparison with those of healthy subjects through SDS-PAGE. For this purpose, high and low molecular weight protein profiles were brought under observation to relate the fluctuations in different protein fractions with various health risks in obese individuals. Nutritional intake might be adjusted with low fat (saturated) and high protein diet to observe its influence in lowering