Target value of intraabdominal fat area for improving coronary heart disease risk factors.
OBJECTIVE
The goal of this study was to determine an intraabdominal fat (IF) area target value for improving coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factors in response to weight reduction.


METHODS
Subjects were 279 obese Japanese women, 21 to 66 years old, who were divided into diet-alone and diet-plus-exercise groups and participated in a 14-week weight reduction program. The IF area was measured by computerized tomography scans. Systolic blood pressure > or = 140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure > or = 90 mm Hg, total cholesterol > or = 5.70 mM, triglycerides > or = 1.70 mM, and fasting plasma glucose > or = 6.99 mM were defined as CHD risk factors.


RESULTS
The best trade-off between sensitivity (probability of correctly detecting true positive) and specificity (probability of correctly detecting true negative) was found at 100 cm2 pretreatment in combined data of the two groups. At posttreatment, although a slight difference was found in the target value between the treatment groups (60 cm2 for diet alone and 50 cm2 for diet plus exercise), the combined data showed that the best trade-off occurred at 60 cm2 (sensitivity and specificity were 0.55 and 0.63, respectively). The percentage of subjects having no CHD risk factors was significantly lower in the group that had large IF areas (> or = 60 cm2) (46%) compared with the group that had normal IF areas (<60 cm2) (65%). However, the percentage of subjects having multiple CHD risk factors was significantly greater in the group that had large IF areas (16%) compared with the group with normal IF areas (7%) at posttreatment.


CONCLUSIONS
Our longitudinal data suggest that obese Japanese women should reduce their IF areas to < 60 cm2 through weight reduction to improve CHD risk factors independent of treatment.
Tanaka
Kiyoji
K
Institute of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. tanaka@sports.taiiku.tsukuba.ac.jp
Okura
Tomohiro
T
Shigematsu
Ryosuke
R
Nakata
Yoshio
Y
Lee
Dong Jun
DJ
Wee
Seung Wan
SW
Yamabuki
Keisuke
K
D000005:Abdomen; D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000032:analysis; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004038:Diet, Reducing; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood; D015431:Weight Loss
D001786:Blood Glucose; D014280:Triglycerides; D002784:Cholesterol