[Metabolic effects of bariatric surgery]

Bariatric surgery managing/preventing complications of severe overweight is nowadays widely accepted as a mainstay in the treatment of morbid obesity. Its role is particularly important in type 2 diabetes developing on the base of long-standing significant overweight. The glycemic control improves within days-weeks after these surgeries, when weight loss and reduction of the visceral fat mass is barely detectable. This short term effect is probably due to an increased secretion of glucagon-like peptide and, as a consequence, an improvement in hepatic insulin sensitivity as well as the whole body glucose uptake. Besides the prolonged glucagon-like peptide effects, the favourable long term effect of these operations - lasting for 10 years even after surgery - is the decrease of visceral fat mass and elimination of harmful influence of cytokines produced by the fatty tissue. The article overviews the metabolic effects of these procedures, their undoubted advantages and potential risks.