Glomerular filtration rate after jejunoileal bypass for obesity

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR), concentration of total cortisol in plasma, and urinary excretion rate of free cortisol were determined in five females 1-5 years after jejunoileal bypass operation for obesity. The overweight of the patients had decreased from 97 per cent (range 82-147 per cent) to 25 per cent (range 0-39 per cent). The measured values were compared to previously published results in 16 female obese patients (median overweight 86 per cent) and in 16 female controls with normal body weight, all comparable with respect to age and height. Median GFR in the jejunoileal bypass patients (100 ml/min) was significantly (P less than 0.006) decreased compared to median GFR in the obese patients (129 ml/min), but did not differ significantly from that in the controls with normal body weight (104 ml/min). The median values of plasma cortisol and urinary excretion rate of free cortisol in the bypass patients were lower than those in the obese females, but the differences were not significant. The present results suggest that the increased GFR in obese subjects is related to the state of obesity.