LEP and hematocrit: Another mechanism explaining our present results is that an increased activity of the sympathetic nervous system in OW subjects has been revealed in several studies [44,45,46], and it was further found that increased BW associated with HT stimulates the sympathetic stimulation causing increased development and progression of HT with an increase in Lep levels in association with an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines, and hence a further increased HT condition [44,45,46].