Regional body fat distribution and metabolic profile in postmenopausal women

The aim of the study was to examine how body fat distribution variables were associated with metabolic parameters in a sample of 113 postmenopausal women not receiving hormone therapy (56.9 ± 4.4 years, 28.4 ± 5.1 kg/m2). Body fat distribution variables (visceral adipose tissue [AT], subcutaneous AT, and total midthigh AT) were measured using computed tomography; body fat mass was assessed by hydrostatic weighing; insulin sensitivity was determined with the euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp; fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and 2-hour plasma glucose (2hPG) concentrations were measured by a 75-g oral glucose load; and (high-sensitivity) C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) was measured using a highly sensitive assay. After controlling for fat mass, visceral AT was positively associated with plasma triglyceride, hs-CRP, FPG, and 2hPG, and negatively associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) and insulin sensitivity. Total midthigh AT was negatively associated with apolipoprotein B, FPG, and 2hPG, and positively associated with insulin sensitivity. Stepwise multiple regression analyses including abdominal visceral AT, subcutaneous AT and total midthigh AT as independent variables showed that abdominal visceral AT best predicted the variance in plasma triglyceride, HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein peak particle size, hs-CRP, FPG, 2hPG, and insulin sensitivity. Abdominal subcutaneous AT was a significant predictor of only insulin sensitivity, whereas total midthigh AT predicted HDL-C, low-density lipoprotein peak particle size, and apolipoprotein B. These multivariate analyses also indicated that total midthigh AT was favorably related to these outcomes, whereas abdominal visceral AT and subcutaneous AT were unfavorably related. These results confirmed that abdominal visceral fat is a critical correlate of metabolic parameters in postmenopausal women. In addition, a higher proportion of AT located in the total midthigh depot is associated with a favorable metabolic profile.