title: Waist circumference and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measures of overall and central obesity are similarly associated with systemic oxidative stress in women.
abstract: Growing evidence suggests that overall and abdominal obesity might lead to oxidative stress (OxS), which, in turn, plays a key role in the pathogenesis of a wide spectrum of diseases. In this study, for the first time, we compared the correlations of indirect, i.e. anthropometric, and direct, by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), measures of body fat with circulatory OxS markers in women. To address this issue, we assessed central and total body fat mass (FM) by DXA, and serum levels of advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), thiols and hydroperoxides in 275 healthy women (age 21-65 years; body mass index [BMI] 21.1-32.0 kg/m(2); waist circumference [WC] 60.1-109.9 cm). Among the markers considered in the study, only hydroperoxides levels, i.e. by-products of lipid peroxidation, were significantly (p < 0.05 for all) and positively correlated to body fat accumulation after controlling for confounding factors. In particular, this marker was found to be similarly associated with DXA-derived total FM, total FM % and trunk FM as well as with WC. Of note, hydroperoxides appeared to be correlated with abdominal but not with general obesity, as classified according to standard WC and BMI cut-offs, respectively. In conclusion, taken together our data demonstrated that, at least in women, the measurement of body FM by DXA has no advantage over the simpler and cheaper WC with regard to their associations with systemic OxS markers. Moreover, WC emerged as a superior potential predictor of OxS compared to the other most commonly used anthropometric measures (including BMI and waist to hip ratio).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical and Specialist Surgical Sciences, Section of Medical Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cervellati
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bonaccorsi
authors.forename: Eleonora
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cremonini
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romani
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Castaldini
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ferrazzini
authors.forename: Melchiorre
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Giganti
authors.forename: Enrica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fila
authors.forename: Leo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Massari
authors.forename: Carlo M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Bergamini
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation; D008054:Lipid Peroxides / Q000097:blood; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000378:metabolism; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D055105:Waist Circumference
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D008054:Lipid Peroxides