title: Intraperitoneal fat is associated with thickening of the thoracic aorta in individuals at high risk for cardiovascular events.
abstract: Increased intraperitoneal (IP) fat is associated with increased cardiovascular (CV) risk, but mechanisms for this increase in risk are not completely established. We performed this study to assess whether IP fat is associated with ascending aortic wall thickness (AOWT), a risk factor for CV events. Four hundred and forty-one consecutive participants, aged 55-85 years, with risk factors for CV events underwent magnetic resonance measures of AOWT and abdominal fat (subcutaneous (SC) fat + IP fat). For the ascending aorta, mean wall thickness of the 4th quartile of the IP fat was higher relative to the 1st quartile (P ≤ 0.001). This difference persisted after accounting for SC fat (P ≤ 0.001), as well as age, gender, height, weight, smoking, diabetes, hypertension, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), and C-reactive protein (CRP) (P < 0.03). Elevated IP fat volume is associated with an increase in ascending AOWT, a condition that promotes CV events in middle aged and elderly adults.
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
authors: Haroon L
authors: HL
authors: Chughtai
authors: Timothy M
authors: TM
authors: Morgan
authors: Craig A
authors: CA
authors: Hamilton
authors: Charaslak
authors: C
authors: Charoenpanichkit
authors: Jingzhong
authors: J
authors: Ding
authors: Tina E
authors: TE
authors: Brinkley
authors: W Gregory
authors: WG
authors: Hundley
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology*; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology*; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D050507:Subcutaneous Fat, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology