title: Obesity-related increase in whole blood viscosity includes different profiles according to fat localization.
abstract: In a precedent study we observed that overall adiposity evaluated with the body mass index (BMI) was correlated with plasma viscosity and red blood cells (RBC) aggregation while abdominal obesity as assessed with the waist to hip ratio (WHR) was correlated with hematocrit. We investigated this issue in 129 women (age 15-65 years, BMI: 15 to 44 kg/m(2), WHR: 0.65 to 1.13, fatness: 12-58%) who were divided into fatness groups: 17 underweight women (BMI <18.5), 75 normal weigh (BMI 18.5-24.9), 11 overweight (BMI 25-29.9), and 26 obese (BMI >30) divided according to WHR into 13 lower body and 13 upper body obese women. Whole blood viscosity significantly increases across obesity classes, and is higher in upper body than in lower body obesity (2.84 ± 0.08 vs 3.29 ± 0.09 mPa.s, p < 0.05). The correlations between whole blood viscosity and BMI (r = 0.383 p < 0.01) and WHR (r = 0.364 p < 0.01) are found again. The former is explained by correlations of BMI with plasma viscosity (r = 0.303 p < 0.01) and red cell rigidity (r = 0.356 p < 0.01) and the latter is only explained by a correlation between WHR and hematocrit (r = 0.524 p < 0.01). BMI is also correlated with RBC aggregation parameters. Actually, when total fatness is evaluated with the percentage of fat (%fat) given by bioimpedance analysis (BIA), the picture is slightly different, since %fat is correlated with whole blood viscosity and RBC aggregation parameters but not with hematocrit, plasma viscosity and red cell rigidity. Fat free mass is also correlated with whole blood viscosity (r = 0.227 p < 0.02) due to a correlation with hematocrit (r = 0.483 p < 0.01) but neither RBC rheology nor plasma viscosity. This study shows that fatness by its own is associated with increased red cell aggregation, that abdominal fat increases blood viscosity due to a rise in hematocrit, and that overall body size as assessed with the BMI is associated with increased plasma viscosity and red cell rigidity.
authors: INSERM U1046 « Physiopathologie and Médecine Expérimentale du Cœur et des Muscles », Equipe d'Explorations Métaboliques (CERAMM), Université Montpellier 1, Université Montpellier 2, Département de Physiologie Clinique, Hôpital Lapeyronie CHU Montpellier, France.
authors: Marie
authors: M
authors: Guiraudou
authors: Emmanuelle
authors: E
authors: Varlet-Marie
authors: Eric
authors: E
authors: Raynaud de Mauverger
authors: Jean-Frédéric
authors: JF
authors: Brun
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001809:Blood Viscosity / Q000502:physiology; D001823:Body Composition; D004903:Erythrocyte Aggregation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D018056:Hemorheology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Metabolic syndrome; blood viscosity; erythrocyte aggregation; fat mass; fat-free mass; gluteal fat; hematocrit; hemorheology; plasma viscosity