Orlistat Induced Modulation on the Fatty Acid Composition in Obese Females

Obesity treatment requires lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, and behavioral therapy. Orlistat is a popular drug approved for long-term use which produces weight loss by inhibiting triglycerides, main components of fats in the diet, from binding to the lipase enzyme active sites thus halting their subsequent breakdown into monoglycerides and free fatty acids necessary for fat digestion, reducing dietary fat absorption by up to 30%. The effect of this drug on human blood fatty acid profile has not been described yet. The FA profile is typical of each lipid and tissue, however, alterations in diets, pathological processes, drugs intervention, cigarettes and alcohol consumption can alter the FA profile. The FA composition of RBCs, plasma and platelets can be used to monitor these processes. This study presents alteration of FA composition in RBCM and phospholipids, triglycerides and cholesteryl esters from plasma of health obese female volunteers treated with nutritional orientation and orlistat (120 mg t.i.d) for 3 months.