Determinants of intrathoracic adipose tissue volume and associations with cardiovascular disease risk factors in Amish.
OBJECTIVE
Hypothesizing that intrathoracic fat might exert local effects on the coronary vasculature, we assessed the association of intrathoracic fat volume and its two subcomponents with coronary artery calcification (CAC) in 909 relatively healthy Amish adults.


RESULTS
Intrathoracic fat, which is comprised of fat between the surface of the heart and the visceral epicardium (epicardial fat) and fat around the heart but outside of the fibrous pericardium (pericardial fat), was measured from electron beam CT scans. We examined the association between intrathoracic fat volume and cardiovascular disease risk factors in multivariate regression model. Fat volume in the epicardial and pericardial compartments were highly correlated with each other and with body mass index. Neither CAC extent nor CAC presence (Agatston score > 0) was associated with increased intrathoracic fat volume in sex-stratified models adjusting for age (p > 0.10). Intrathoracic fat volume was significantly correlated with higher systolic/diastolic blood pressure, pulse pressure, fasting glucose, insulin, triglyceride and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in sex-stratified models adjusting for age (p < 0.05). However, associations were attenuated after further adjustment for body mass index.


CONCLUSIONS
These data do not provide support for a significant role for intrathoracic fat in the development of CAC.
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. Electronic address: xliu@rx.umaryland.edu.
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X
Liu
Department of Medicine and Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Post
Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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McLenithan
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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M
Terrin
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Magder
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Harbor UCLA Med Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
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I
Zeb
Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Harbor UCLA Med Center, Torrance, CA, USA.
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Budoff
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.
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Mitchell
D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D061365:Amish; D001786:Blood Glucose / Q000378:metabolism; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL / Q000097:blood; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007328:Insulin / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010496:Pericardium / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D012307:Risk Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood
D001786:Blood Glucose; D008076:Cholesterol, HDL; D008078:Cholesterol, LDL; D007328:Insulin; D014280:Triglycerides
Cardiovascular diseases; Coronary artery calcification; Ectopic fat; Epicardial fat; Intrathoracic fat; Obesity