Epicardial Adipose Tissue Is Increased in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Abstract

Objectives Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have high cardiovascular morbidity, and, in general, epicardial adipose tissue thickness is related to atherosclerotic vascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the association between epicardial adipose tissue thickness and carotid intima‐media thickness as markers of early atherosclerosis in patients with IBD. Methods The study comprised 47 patients with IBD (25 with Crohn disease and 22 with ulcerative colitis) and 35 control participants. In all individuals, epicardial adipose tissue and carotid intima‐media thickness values were measured by sonography. Results The mean age ± SD of the 47 patients with IBD was 42.3 ± 11.2 years, versus 41.4 ± 10.1 years for the control group. The epicardial adipose tissue thickness was higher in both the Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis groups compared to the control group (P < .001), but not the carotid intima‐media thickness (P = .695 and .917, respectively). There was a strong positive correlation between the carotid intima‐media and epicardial adipose tissue thickness values in the Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis groups (r = 0.757; 95% confidence interval, 0.711–0.901; r = 0.786; 95% confidence interval, 0.364–0.615; both P < .001). However, there was no significant difference between the patients who were in the active and inactive disease periods in both groups in terms of carotid intima‐media and epicardial adipose tissue thickness values. Conclusions Our findings suggest that epicardial adipose tissue thickness might be a marker for detection of early atherosclerosis in patients with IBD. There was a strong positive correlation between carotid intima‐media thickness and epicardial adipose tissue thickness values in the patients with IBD. However, there was no correlation between IBD activity and carotid intima‐media or epicardial adipose tissue thickness.

Endothelial Dysfunction and Arterial Stiffness in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In 23 studies with 1367 IBD patients and 1127 matched controls [ 13 , 25 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 ], cIMT was found to be significantly increased in patients with IBD compared with the matched controls (Cohen’s d: 0.63; 95% CI: 0.34, 0.93; p < 0.01, Figure 2 A). However, the heterogeneity among the studies was significant (I 2 = 91.84%; p < 0.01).…”

“…The following supporting information can be downloaded at: , Table S1: Participant characteristics of included studies; Table S2: Measures of disease activity and data on treatment in patients with IBD of included studies; Table S3: Outcomes of patients with IBD and Controls in included studies; Figure S1: Funnel plot of publication bias of cIMT, cfPWV, and FMD. References [ 13 , 14 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 ] are cited in the supplementary materials.…”

Characterization of the inflammatory‐metabolic phenotype of heart failure with a preserved ejection fraction: a hypothesis to explain influence of sex on the evolution and potential treatment of the disease

“…Specifically, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus and systemic sclerosis are accompanied by an increase in epicardial fat volume that is proportional to the duration and severity of the underlying disease and is paralleled by changes in diastolic filling parameters 134–136 . Epicardial adiposity is also seen in psoriasis, 137 inflammatory bowel disease, 138 and chronic pulmonary inflammation 139 . Similarly, in obesity, epicardial adipose tissue volume is increased 140 in relation to the degree of microvascular dysfunction, cardiac fibrosis, and ventricular hypertrophy 128 and to adverse changes in diastolic filling, LA dimensions and global longitudinal strain 7,130,141 .…”

Epicardial adipose tissue in patients with systemic sclerosis

“…Previous studies showed that several systemic inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and psoriasis, are accompanied by an increase in EAT mass, which is proportional to the duration and severity of the underlying disease. 25–27 In SSc, increased EAT volume was also suggested to be associated with the presence and severity of the disease. 28 In particular, the activation of aldosterone, leptin, and neprilysin observed in systemic inflammatory disease may facilitate the accumulation and dysfunction of EAT.…”