Effects of obesity phenotype on coronary heart disease risk factors in response to weight loss.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether there is a difference in risk-factor improvement for coronary heart disease (CHD) between the intra-abdominal fat (IF) and subcutaneous fat (SF) obesity phenotypes after weight loss.


METHODS
Subjects included 55 mildly obese women (body mass index, 25 to 36 kg/m(2); age range, 34 to 63 years) who had at least two of three CHD risk factors [systolic blood pressure (SBP), >140 mm Hg; total cholesterol (TC), >220 mg/dL; fasting plasma glucose, >110 mg/dL). Using computed tomography, IF obesity was classified as > or =110 cm(2) of the IF area measured; subjects with <110 cm(2) were classified as having SF obesity. The IF and SF obesity groups were divided into diet-only and diet-plus-exercise groups. Assays and measurements were performed before and after a 14-week (98-day) intervention.


RESULTS
Weight was reduced by 7 to 10 kg in each group. The IF and SF areas, SBP, diastolic blood pressure, TC, and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol were significantly reduced in all groups (p < 0.01). Reduction in IF area was greater in IF obesity than in SF obesity, whereas no differences were observed in the improvement of CHD risk factors. Sample sizes needed for observing a significant difference for SBP, TC, triglycerides, and fasting plasma glucose were greater than the number of subjects in this study.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that the influence of the obesity phenotype on improving CHD risk factors is not apparent. A larger study is needed to prove the validity of this finding.
Department of Epidemiology, National Institute for Longevity Sciences, Obu, Japan. okura@nils.go.jp
Tomohiro
T
Okura
Kiyoji
K
Tanaka
Tomoko
T
Nakanishi
Dong Jun
DJ
Lee
Yoshio
Y
Nakata
Seung Wan
SW
Wee
Hiroshi
H
Shimokata
D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001823:Body Composition; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D004032:Diet; D004435:Eating; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D010641:Phenotype; D012307:Risk Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D015431:Weight Loss
D001786:Blood Glucose; D014280:Triglycerides; D019344:Lactic Acid; D002784:Cholesterol