In a cross-sectional study performed in 118 obese adolescents, Taksali et al. tested the hypothesis that elevated intra-abdominal (visceral) adipose tissue combined with low subcutaneous adipose tissue accumulation was tied to a deteriorated metabolic risk profile. The adolescents (79 females and 39 males) were classified according to tertiles of intra-abdominal adipose tissue. Despite having comparable BMI Z scores, individuals in the top tertile of intra-abdominal fat had the highest triglycerides and insulin levels and the lowest leptin and HDL cholesterol concentrations. Levels of liver enzymes also increased across tertiles of intra-abdominal fat. In the top tertile, the odds ratio for having the metabolic syndrome was 5.2 (p=0.003). In their conclusion to this brief report, the authors emphasized that intra-abdominal adipose tissue accumulation is linked to the metabolic complications of obesity, even if the adolescents are not severely obese.
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