title: Covariation of change in bioavailable testosterone and adiposity in midlife women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether menopause-related changes in reproductive hormones were associated with change in adiposity and whether these relationships were independent of important covariates.
  
  
  METHODS
  Annual assessments of adiposity measures [computed tomography-assessed visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry-assessed total body fat (TBF)] over 4 years from an ancillary study at the Chicago site of the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN) were paired with reproductive hormones collected by SWAN. Included were 243 women (44% African American, 56% Caucasian) who were eligible participants in a population-based cohort with a 72% participation rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  VAT increased by 3.8% annually, and SAT increased by 1.8% per year. Change in bioavailable testosterone was significantly positively associated with changes both in VAT and in SAT but was not related to change in total body fat. The associations were independent of age, race, physical activity, smoking, baseline TBF, baseline bioavailable testosterone, and change in TBF. Change in estradiol was unrelated to changes in any adiposity measure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bioavailable testosterone may play an important role in menopause-related redistribution of visceral and subcutaneous fat in the central abdominal region.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612.
authors.forename: Imke
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612.|Department of Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612.|Behavioral Sciences, and Pharmacology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612.
authors.forename: Lynda H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612.
authors.forename: Mateusz S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Jasielec
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612.|Department of Medicine, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612.
authors.forename: Rasa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kazlauskaite
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D002641:Chicago / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008593:Menopause / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000208:ethnology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
chemical_list: D013739:Testosterone