[Obesity, insulin resistance and increase in adipokines levels: importance of the diet and physical activity].

With obesity the amount of pro- and anti-inflammatory adipokines released is increased within the fat tissue. These molecules are implicated in many clinical manifestations of this pathology such as diabetes, arterial hypertension, or cardiovascular disease. At the first stage, the fat tissue of the obese patient becomes resistant to the action of insulin due to the effect of some of these adipokines such as tumour necrosis alpha (TNF-alpha) or interleukine-6 (IL-6). At a second stage, this resistance occurs at other tissues and glucose and insulin levels are increased. This increase, together with high adipokines levels that occur in diabetes, lead to the occurrence of different adverse events, such as the following: increase in oxidative stress, endothelial dysfunction, increase in blood pressure, and impairments in lipoprotein metabolism, all of which are harmful for health. Practising physical activity and following a balanced diet, similar to the Mediterranean pattern with low fat and salt consumption, would be helpful for improving insulin resistance and adipokines levels in obese people, thus helping improving their health status in the long run.