Abdominal obesity is a major determinant of arterial inflammation

Objectives Abdominal obesity is the principle factor that predisposes subjects to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Recent observational studies have reported that body fat distribution may be differentially associated with atherosclerosis. Our purpose was to determine the association between metabolic factors, body fat composition, fatty liver and arterial inflammation by using FDG PET/CT in healthy subjects.

Methods During 2004 to 2009, 265 healthy subjects (55±10 y) underwent FDG PET/CT for health check-up. Arterial inflammation was measured and normalized to venous activity for target to background ratio (TBR). Abdominal ultrasound and body composition analyzer were also performed to compare the status of fatty liver and abdominal fat distribution.

Results Mean TBR significantly correlated with weight (r=0.13), body mass index (BMI) (r=0.14), abdominal girth (AG) (r=0.14), visceral adipose tissue (VAT) on CT (r=0.19), fatty liver (r=0.21) and lean body mass (LBS) (r=0.13)(all p<0.05), but not with other parameters, including subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) or mean body fat (MBF) . In contrast, VAT volume showed a positive correlation with BMI, AG, fatty liver, fasting glucose and lipid profile. In multivariate regression analysis, only VAT independently related to TBR (p<0.05).

Conclusions The results of the present study suggest abdominal visceral fat quantity is a major determinant of arterial inflammation detected by FDG-PET

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Characteristics and determinants of mean arterial TBR

NS=no significant.