The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between direct measures of abdominal adipose tissue and metabolic risk factors in apparently healthy middle-aged Japanese. The study sample included 1 119 men and 854 women aged 38-60 years who were not taking medications for diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidemia. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were measured by computed tomography. A strong association was observed between triglycerides and VAT across sex. When both VAT and SAT were included in the regression model, only the association of VAT remained significant. As for plasma glucose, the impact of VAT relative to SAT appeared to be less pronounced compared to triglycerides. Both VAT and SAT were independently associated with blood pressure in men and women. The association between VAT and risk factors appeared to always be stronger in women than in men, particularly for HDL-cholesterol. The independent associations with VAT remained for all risk factors after adjustment for body mass index and waist circumference, which was not observed with SAT. Thus, the respective contributions of VAT and SAT to cardiometabolic risk factors differ depending upon the risk marker considered and as a function of gender.
Documentation centre