Gain in adiposity across 15 years is associated with reduced gray matter volume in healthy women.
OBJECTIVE
To test whether current gray matter volume (GMV) covaried with previously obtained longitudinal measures of weight gain-as assessed by increases in body mass index (BMI)-among otherwise healthy postmenopausal women. Cross-sectional results indicate that reduced GMV may be associated with excess body weight.


METHODS
Demographic, biometric, and behavioral measures were obtained from 48 women as part of the Pittsburgh Healthy Women Study, a longitudinal epidemiological investigation initiated between 1983 and 1984. In 2005 and 2006, these women took part in a brain imaging protocol.


RESULTS
Premenopausal BMI and a priori chosen confounding variables, including the number of years post menopause, an aggregate measure of perceived life stress spanning a 20-year period, resting blood pressure, total cerebral volume, and severity of white matter hyperintensities (a suspected indicator of aging-related silent cerebrovascular disease), explained approximately 22% of variance in total GMV. An additional 15% of the variance was uniquely explained by the change in BMI between pre- and postmenopausal longitudinal assessments, such that an increase in BMI predicted a greater reduction in GMV.


CONCLUSIONS
An increase in BMI during the menopausal transition and beyond is associated with reduced GMV among otherwise healthy women.
Soreca
Isabella
I
Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, 3811 O'Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. sorecai@upmc.edu
Rosano
Caterina
C
Jennings
J Richard
JR
Sheu
Lei K
LK
Kuller
Lewis H
LH
Matthews
Karen A
KA
Aizenstein
Howard J
HJ
Gianaros
Peter J
PJ
D050154:Adiposity / Q000502:physiology; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000473:pathology*; D001284:Atrophy; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008593:Menopause / Q000502:physiology; D009765:Obesity / Q000473:pathology*; D017698:Postmenopause / Q000502:physiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology; D016387:Women's Health