title: Abdominal obesity is associated with arterial stiffness in middle-aged adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The relation between adiposity and arterial stiffness remains controversial. We determined whether abdominal and visceral adipose tissue may be a better predictor of arterial stiffness than general obesity in middle-aged adults.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 146 participants (76 men, 70 women; 50 years) were studied. The automatic vascular screening device (Omron VP-1000plus) was used to measure blood pressure simultaneously in the arms and ankles and to determine arterial stiffness by pulse wave velocity (PWV). Using multiple linear regressions, the relations between indicators of obesity and arterial stiffness were examined after adjustment for confounders. Both carotid-femoral PWV and brachial-ankle PWV were significantly associated with BMI (both P < 0.05) but not with body fat percentage. Measures of abdominal obesity, including waist circumference and visceral fat mass (via DXA), were strongly associated with PWV and remained positively associated with arterial stiffness after adjustment for age and gender. Cardiovascular fitness as assessed by maximal oxygen consumption was related to body fat percentage but not with visceral fat. More favorable cardiovascular health profile was associated with both lower visceral fat mass and PWV (both P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Abdominal obesity and visceral fat are associated with large artery stiffness. These findings support the importance of adiposity measures as a risk factor for arterial stiffening in middle-aged adults.
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA; Institute for Nutritional Sciences and Physiology, University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tyrol, Austria. Electronic address: barbara.strasser@umit.at.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Strasser
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, Medical Decision Making and Health Technology Assessment, University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology, Hall in Tyrol, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arvandi
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Pasha
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Haley
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stanforth
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology and Health Education, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D055109:Ankle Brachial Index; D001158:Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002339:Carotid Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005263:Femoral Artery / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D063177:Pulse Wave Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013781:Texas / Q000453:epidemiology; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D059289:Vascular Stiffness; D055105:Waist Circumference
keywords: Arterial compliance; Body composition; Cardiovascular fitness; Midlife; Visceral fat