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      Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue: A Protective Fat Depot?

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          Abstract

          OBJECTIVE

          Obesity is associated with increased metabolic and cardiovascular risk. The ectopic fat hypothesis suggests that subcutaneous fat may be protective, but this theory has yet to be fully explored.

          RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

          Participants from the Framingham Heart Study ( n = 3,001, 48.5% women) were stratified by visceral adipose tissue (VAT) into sex-specific tertiles. Within these tertiles, age-adjusted abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) tertiles were examined in relation to cardiometabolic risk factors.

          RESULTS

          In the lowest VAT tertile, risk factor prevalence was low, although systolic blood pressure in women and rates of high triglycerides, impaired fasting glucose, hypertension, and the metabolic syndrome in men increased with increasing SAT tertile (all P < 0.04). In contrast, in the top VAT tertile, lower triglycerides were observed in men with increasing SAT (64.4% high triglycerides in SAT tertile 1 vs. 52.7% in SAT tertile 3, P = 0.03). Similar observations were made for women, although results were not statistically significant (50.6% high triglycerides in SAT tertile 1 vs. 41.0% in tertile 3, P = 0.10). Results in the highest VAT tertile were notable for a lack of increase in the prevalence of low HDL in men and women and in rates of impaired fasting glucose in men with increasing subcutaneous fat, despite sizable differences in BMI across SAT tertiles (27.1 to 36.3 kg/m 2[women]; 28.1 to 35.7 kg/m 2[men]).

          CONCLUSIONS

          Although adiposity increases the absolute risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease, abdominal subcutaneous fat is not associated with a linear increase in the prevalence of all risk factors among the obese, most notably, high triglycerides.

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          Most cited references16

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          Abdominal visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue compartments: association with metabolic risk factors in the Framingham Heart Study.

          Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) compartments may confer increased metabolic risk. The incremental utility of measuring both visceral and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) in association with metabolic risk factors and underlying heritability has not been well described in a population-based setting. Participants (n=3001) were drawn from the Framingham Heart Study (48% women; mean age, 50 years), were free of clinical cardiovascular disease, and underwent multidetector computed tomography assessment of SAT and VAT volumes between 2002 and 2005. Metabolic risk factors were examined in relation to increments of SAT and VAT after multivariable adjustment. Heritability was calculated using variance-components analysis. Among both women and men, SAT and VAT were significantly associated with blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol and with increased odds of hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, diabetes mellitus, and metabolic syndrome (P range < 0.01). In women, relations between VAT and risk factors were consistently stronger than in men. However, VAT was more strongly correlated with most metabolic risk factors than was SAT. For example, among women and men, both SAT and VAT were associated with increased odds of metabolic syndrome. In women, the odds ratio (OR) of metabolic syndrome per 1-standard deviation increase in VAT (OR, 4.7) was stronger than that for SAT (OR, 3.0; P for difference between SAT and VAT < 0.0001); similar differences were noted for men (OR for VAT, 4.2; OR for SAT, 2.5). Furthermore, VAT but not SAT contributed significantly to risk factor variation after adjustment for body mass index and waist circumference (P < or = 0.01). Among overweight and obese individuals, the prevalence of hypertension, impaired fasting glucose, and metabolic syndrome increased linearly and significantly across increasing VAT quartiles. Heritability values for SAT and VAT were 57% and 36%, respectively. Although both SAT and VAT are correlated with metabolic risk factors, VAT remains more strongly associated with an adverse metabolic risk profile even after accounting for standard anthropometric indexes. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesized role of visceral fat as a unique, pathogenic fat depot. Measurement of VAT may provide a more complete understanding of metabolic risk associated with variation in fat distribution.
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            Prevalence of obesity, diabetes, and obesity-related health risk factors, 2001.

            Obesity and diabetes are increasing in the United States. To estimate the prevalence of obesity and diabetes among US adults in 2001. Random-digit telephone survey of 195 005 adults aged 18 years or older residing in all states participating in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 2001. Body mass index, based on self-reported weight and height and self-reported diabetes. In 2001 the prevalence of obesity (BMI > or =30) was 20.9% vs 19.8% in 2000, an increase of 5.6%. The prevalence of diabetes increased to 7.9% vs 7.3% in 2000, an increase of 8.2%. The prevalence of BMI of 40 or higher in 2001 was 2.3%. Overweight and obesity were significantly associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, arthritis, and poor health status. Compared with adults with normal weight, adults with a BMI of 40 or higher had an odds ratio (OR) of 7.37 (95% confidence interval [CI], 6.39-8.50) for diagnosed diabetes, 6.38 (95% CI, 5.67-7.17) for high blood pressure, 1.88 (95% CI,1.67-2.13) for high cholesterol levels, 2.72 (95% CI, 2.38-3.12) for asthma, 4.41 (95% CI, 3.91-4.97) for arthritis, and 4.19 (95% CI, 3.68-4.76) for fair or poor health. Increases in obesity and diabetes among US adults continue in both sexes, all ages, all races, all educational levels, and all smoking levels. Obesity is strongly associated with several major health risk factors.
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              Hypertriglyceridemic waist: A marker of the atherogenic metabolic triad (hyperinsulinemia; hyperapolipoprotein B; small, dense LDL) in men?

              The present study tested the hypothesis that simple variables, such as waist circumference and fasting plasma triglyceride (TG) concentrations, could be used as screening tools for the identification of men characterized by a metabolic triad of nontraditional risk factors (elevated insulin and apolipoprotein [apo] B and small, dense LDL particles). Results of the metabolic study (study 1) conducted on 185 healthy men indicate that a large proportion (>80%) of men with waist circumference values >/=90 cm and with elevated TG levels (>/=2.0 mmol/L) were characterized by the atherogenic metabolic triad. Validation of the model in an angiographic study (study 2) on a sample of 287 men with and without coronary artery disease (CAD) revealed that only men with both elevated waist and TG levels were at increased risk of CAD (odds ratio of 3.6, P<0.03) compared with men with low waist and TG levels. It is suggested that the simultaneous measurement and interpretation of waist circumference and fasting TG could be used as inexpensive screening tools to identify men characterized by the atherogenic metabolic triad (hyperinsulinemia, elevated apo B, small, dense LDL) and at high risk for CAD.

                Author and article information

                Journal
                Diabetes Care
                diacare
                dcare
                Diabetes Care
                Diabetes Care
                American Diabetes Association
                0149-5992
                1935-5548
                June 2009
                5 March 2009
                : 32
                : 6
                : 1068-1075
                Affiliations
                [1] 1National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's Framingham Heart Study, Framingham, Massachusetts;
                [2] 2Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts;
                [3] 3Department of Mathematics, Boston University and School of Public Health, Division of Biostatistics, Boston, Massachusetts;
                [4] 4Radiology Department, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts;
                [5] 5Department of Cardiology and Preventive Medicine, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts;
                [6] 6Department of Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts;
                [7] 7Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
                Author notes
                Corresponding author: Caroline S. Fox, foxca@ 123456nhlbi.nih.gov .
                Article
                2280
                10.2337/dc08-2280
                2681034
                19244087
                6b37fc7e-b24e-4c4c-b8f7-669104f332bf
                © 2009 by the American Diabetes Association.

                Readers may use this article as long as the work is properly cited, the use is educational and not for profit, and the work is not altered. See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ for details.

                History
                : 20 December 2008
                : 20 February 2009
                Funding
                Funded by: National Institutes of Health
                Award ID: 2K24HL04334
                Categories
                Original Research
                Cardiovascular and Metabolic Risk

                Endocrinology & Diabetes
                Endocrinology & Diabetes

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