In our study, caloric restriction diet lowered leptin levels in overweight adults by 46 %, whereas inflammation and insulin sensitivity remained unchanged. The aim of a recent study was to investigate the effect of a 12-week very low caloric diet (800 kcal/d) on insulin sensitivity and inflammatory parameters in obese subjects [14]. In this study by Oberhauser et al. [14] despite a significant decrease in leptin levels and improvement of insulin sensitivity, biomarkers of inflammation did not change throughout the study period, suggesting that inflammation is not a major contributor to the development of insulin resistance. On the
other hand, hyperinsulinemia per se can produce an increase in plasma IL-6 and TNF-a [15], and this can
potentially contribute to the low-grade inflammation seen
in obesity. Thus, one possible reason for the mean