title: Adiposity contributes to differences in left ventricular structure and diastolic function with age in healthy men.
abstract: We sought to examine the influence of adiposity in age-associated changes in the left ventricle (LV) in a cohort of 113 healthy men, aged 20-79 yr, by measuring LV structure and diastolic function (echocardiography), whole body composition, and regional adiposity (dual energy x-ray absorptiometry). Aging was associated with increased levels of adiposity, greater wall thickness to chamber radius ratio, LV concentric remodeling, and reduced LV diastolic function (all P < 0.05). Bivariate correlation analysis showed that mean LV wall thickness, a concentric LV morphology, and diastolic function were related to adiposity (r = -0.63 to 0.51; all P < 0.05). The relation between age and both mean LV wall thickness and concentric remodeling was reduced after controlling for percentage total body fat (by 38% and 54%, respectively), percentage abdominal fat (by 42% and 62%), and the abdominal/thigh fat ratio (by 35% and 46%). The diastolic function-age relation was reduced after controlling for percentage total body fat (by 35%), percentage abdominal fat (by 39%), and the abdominal/thigh fat ratio (by 29%). There were no apparent differences in the contribution of percentage total body fat, percentage abdominal fat, or abdominal/thigh fat to the association between age and LV structure/diastolic function. We conclude that increasing adiposity contributes to the LV remodeling/reduced diastolic function that occurs with aging in healthy men.
authors.affiliation: Department of Integrative Physiology, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA. phillip.gates@colorado.edu
authors.forename: Phillip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Gates
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Gentile
authors.forename: Douglas R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Seals
authors.forename: Demetra D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Christou
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013848:Thigh; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*