Cross-Sectional Associations Bet ween Abdominal and Thoracic Adipose Tissue Compartments and Adiponectin and Resistin in the Framingham Heart Study
- Shilpa H. Jain, MD1,
- Joseph M. Massaro, PHD2,
- Udo Hoffmann, MD, MPH3,
- Guido A. Rosito, MD3,4,
- Ramachandran S. Vasan, MD5,
- Annaswamy Raji, MBBS, MMSC1,
- Christopher J. O'Donnell, MD, MPH5,7,
- James B. Meigs, MD, MPH6 and
- Caroline S. Fox, MD, MPH1,5
- 1Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Hypertension, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;
- 2Department of Mathematics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts;
- 3Division of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;
- 4Federal Foundation School of Medical Sciences of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande de Sul, Brazil;
- 5Framingham Heart Study, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Framingham, Massachusetts;
- 6Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts;
- 7Division of Cardiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts.
- Corresponding author: Caroline S. Fox, foxca{at}nhlbi.nih.gov
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To test the association of regional fat depots with circulating adiponectin and resistin concentrations and to assess the potential mediating effect of adipokines on associations between abdominal fat depots and cardiometabolic risk factors.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Participants from the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort (n = 916, 55% women; mean age 59 years) free of cardiovascular disease underwent computed tomography measurement of visceral adipose tissue (VAT), subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), pericardial fat, and intrathoracic fat volumes and assays of circulating adiponectin and resistin.
RESULTS VAT, SAT, pericardial fat, and intrathoracic fat were negatively correlated with adiponectin (r = −0.19 to −0.34, P < 0.001 [women]; r = −0.15 to −0.26, P < 0.01 [men] except SAT) and positively correlated with resistin (r = 0.16–0.21, P < 0.001 [women]; r = 0.11–0.14, P < 0.05 [men] except VAT). VAT increased the multivariable model R2 for adiponectin from 2–4% to 10–13% and for resistin from 3–4% to 3–6%. Adjustment for adipokines did not fully attenuate associations between VAT, SAT, and cardiometabolic risk factors.
CONCLUSIONS Adiponectin and resistin are correlated with fat depots cross-sectionally, but none of the adipokines can serve as surrogates for the fat depots. Relations between VAT, SAT, and cardiometabolic risk factors were not fully explained by adiponectin or resistin concentrations.
Footnotes
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- Received September 28, 2008.
- Accepted February 4, 2009.
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- © 2009 by the American Diabetes Association.
