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Vascular endothelial function is selectively, positively related to leg/hip fatness in healthy postmenopausal women
Author(s) -
Pierce Gary L.,
Eskurza Iratxe,
Anderson John E.,
Seals Douglas R.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.22.1_supplement.1211.7
Subject(s) - medicine , waist , endocrinology , brachial artery , waist–hip ratio , peripheral , obesity , blood pressure
Vascular endothelial dysfunction develops with age and contributes to increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Abdominal body fat increases, but peripheral body fat decreases, CVD risk particularly in postmenopausal women (PMW). We hypothesized that peripheral body fat is associated with enhanced endothelium‐dependent dilation (EDD) in PMW. In young men and women (n=62, age 24±5y; 45M/17F), EDD (brachial artery flow‐mediated dilation) was not related to total or peripheral body fat (DXA) or to waist:hip ratio (WHR), a measure of abdominal fat. In middle‐aged and older healthy men (n=51, age 62±1y), EDD was inversely related to WHR ratio (r=‐0.29, P=0.04), but not to total or peripheral body fat. In contrast, in healthy PMW (n=27, age 60±1y) EDD was positively related to total fat (r=0.44, P<0.05), hip circumference (r=0.49, P=0.01) and leg/hip fat (r=0.47, P=0.01), but not to arm fat or WHR. EDD was greater in subgroups (n=7/group) of PMW with higher vs. lower leg/hip fat (7.1±3 vs. 4.1±2 %, P<0.01) independent of serum risk factors, but was not significantly (P>0.05) different in subgroups of PMW differing in total body fat or WHR. Plasma estrogen concentrations were higher in a subgroup of PMW with greater vs. lower leg/hip fat (P=0.03). Among healthy PMW, leg/hip body fat is consistently associated with enhanced EDD, independent of differences in conventional CVD risk factors. NIH AG006537 , AG013038 , AG022241