Effect of Laparoscopic Gastric Plication on the Blood Protein Profile of Obese Subjects Using Shotgun Proteomics

Nowadays, bariatric surgery is considered to be the most effective technique in the treatment of morbid obesity. In the current study, the effect of Laparoscopic Gastric Plication (LGP), a new technique, on the serum protein profile of obese patients has been investigated following surgery. Serum of 16 obese subjects with mean body mass index (BMI) of 41.2±5.3 kg/m2, who underwent LGP was investigated before surgery and at two timepoints post-surgery (T1-1 to 2 months after surgery and T2-4 to 5 months after surgery). Peptide mixtures prepared using Polyvinylidene Fluoride (PVDF) membrane and trypsin enzyme were analyzed by Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). In the present study 157 proteins were quantified, and twenty-four proteins showed statistically significant different levels at T1 post-surgery, using paired two -sample t-test (adjusted p-value<0.05); of these, levels of 12 increased, while those of 12 decreased. At T2 post-surgery, 16 proteins were differentially regulated (adjusted p-value<0.05), 10 upregulated proteins and 6 downregulated proteins. Due to the significant effect of bariatric surgery on the protein profile of patients, it is possible to study the impact of effective factors on the identified biomarkers and find a new strategy for obesity treatment in the future.