Reduced Endothelium‐Dependent Dilation with Aging in Humans is Associated with Increased Abdominal Visceral Fat

• Published in: The FASEB journal 2007, Vol.21 (6), p.A1373-A1373
• Main Authors: Edwards, Lindsay M., Beske, Stacy D., Eskurza, Iratxe, Silver, Annemarie E., Southall, Kara L., Benay, Francoise J., Lawson, Brooke R., Seals, Douglas R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0892-6638; 1530-6860
• DOI: 10.1096/fasebj.21.6.A1373

The roles of increasing total body and abdominal fat in age‐associated reductions in endothelium‐dependent dilation (EDD) are unknown. Study 1: EDD (brachial artery flow‐mediated dilation, FMD) was 48% lower in older (n=20; 56–71 yr) vs. young (n=19; 19–27 yr) non‐obese and obese adults. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the age‐related decline in FMD was independently related to waist‐to‐hip ratio (WHR), a measure of total abdominal fat (TAF), but not to total body fat. Correcting for WHR abolished age‐associated differences in FMD. Study 2: FMD was inversely related to CT‐determined abdominal visceral fat (AVF) (r= −0.54, P= 0.0001), but not to TAF (r= −0.25, P= 0.15) or abdominal subcutaneous fat (ASF) (r= −0.04, P= 0.83) in 19 young (19–36 yr) and 17 older (50–75 yr) overweight/obese adults. Subgroups of young and older adults differing in AVF, but matched for TAF and ASF, showed age‐related differences in FMD (8.3±0.5 vs. 5.6±0.8 %, P