Bariatric Surgery and LDL Cholesterol

Background: Observational studies have shown that gastric bypass is superior to sleeve gastrectomy in terms of LDL cholesterol improvement. If these results are confirmed in randomized controlled trials, pre-surgical LDL cholesterol status should be a point to consider in the surgical procedure election. Objective: The primary objective is to compare 1-year LDL cholesterol remission after gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy in morbid obese patients. Methods: Phase 3, uni-centric, randomized clinical trial, with intention-to-treat analysis to compare LDL cholesterol remission between gastric bypass and sleeve gastrectomy with a 12 months follow-up. The inclusion criteria will be patients aged between 18-60 years old with a body mass index ≥40 or ≥35 kg/m2 with a significant obesity related comorbidity and high LDL cholesterol levels. Patients will be evaluated preoperatively (2 months before surgery) and at 3, 6 and 12 months after bariatric surgery. Examinations will include routine blood chemistry, anthropometric measures, food intake recall, physical activity questionnaires,intima media thickness, fecal samples for microbiota examinations, fat tissue samples and serum samples for lipidomics and hormonal analyses.