Role of Deep Abdominal Fat in the Association Between Regional Adipose Tissue Distribution and Glucose Tolerance in Obese Women

Abstract

Computed tomography (CT) was used to study the association between adipose tissue localization and glucose tolerance in a sample of 52 premenopausal obese women aged 35.7 +/- 5.5 yr (mean +/- SD) and with a body fat of 45.9 +/- 5.5%. Body-fat mass and the body mass index (BMI) were significantly correlated with plasma glucose, insulin, and connecting peptide (C-peptide) areas after glucose (75 g) ingestion (.40 less than or equal to r less than or equal to .51, P less than .01). Trunk-fat accumulation and the size of fat cells in the abdomen displayed highly significant correlations with postglucose insulin levels. The C-peptide area was also positively correlated with abdominal fat cell size (r = .76, P less than .01) and was more closely associated with the sum of trunk skin folds (r = .59, P less than .001) than with the extremity skin folds (r = .29, P less than .05). Subcutaneous and deep-abdominal-fat areas measured by CT displayed comparable associations with the plasma insulin area (r = .44 and .49, respectively; P less than .001) but marked differences in the associations with glucose tolerance. Indeed, subcutaneous abdominal fat was not significantly correlated with the glucose area, whereas deep abdominal fat showed a significant correlation (r = .57, P less than .001) with the glucose area. Midthigh fat deposition measured by CT was not, however, correlated with plasma glucose, insulin, or C-peptide areas.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Age, body mass index and Type 2 diabetes?associations modified by ethnicity

“…Asian Indians have been shown to be more insulin-resistant than most other ethnic groups [27]. Preferential deposition and distribution of fat in the abdominal region is associated with reduced insulin-mediated glucose disposal, independent of an overall degree of obesity [28,29,30]. Anthropometric studies have shown that the distribution of fat differs between ethnic groups, and thus identical distributions of BMI in two populations could still reflect large differences with respect to the accumulation of intraabdominal fat, and Asian populations have been shown to be more prone to abdominal obesity and low muscle mass [27,31,32,33].…”

Adipose tissue as a buffer for daily lipid flux

“…There is some direct evidence for the latter in vivo [82]. However, an enlarged intra-abdominal store is associated in many studies with features of insulin resistance [83,84], suggesting that large intra-abdominal adipocytes could be less efficient at buffering. It is difficult to reach firm conclusions because most of the evidence about the metabolic behaviour of intra-abdominal adipocytes has, of necessity, been obtained in vitro, under which conditions the many regulatory influences that operate to maintain fatty acid homeostasis in vivo are absent.…”

Relationship of adiponectin to body fat distribution, insulin sensitivity and plasma lipoproteins: evidence for independent roles of age and sex

“…Android body fat distribution is associated with insulin resistance more than is a gynoid body fat distribution [5], with the site of abdominal fat distribution being an additional determinant of insulin sensitivity [6,7,8,9,10,11]. We found in both lean and obese subjects that the intraabdominal fat (IAF) depot is a stronger determinant of insulin sensitivity than the subcutaneous fat (SCF) depot [11], while SCF is the main determinant of the plasma concentration of leptin [11], an adipocyte-derived hormone regulating energy metabolism [12,13].…”