title: Adipose tissue attenuation as a marker of adipose tissue quality: Associations with six-year changes in body weight.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Weight gain is associated with fat volume increases, but associations with fat quality are less well characterized The associations of weight change with visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) volume and attenuation were investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  Computed tomography abdominal scans were acquired on a Framingham Heart Study subset (N = 836; 40.2% women; mean age 45.7 years), a mean of 6.1 years apart. Fat attenuation estimated fat quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean weight change was +2.0 (SD 6.8; IQR -0.7, 5.0) kg in women and +2.7 (SD 6.0; IQR -0.5, 5.4) kg in men. Per 2.5 kg weight increase in women, VAT volume increased 126 cm(3) (95% CI, 112-140, p < 0.0001), SAT volume increased 258 cm(3) (95% CI, 239-278, p < 0.0001), and fat attenuation decreased (i.e., fat quality worsened) in VAT and SAT (p < 0.0001). Increasing VAT volume was associated with decreasing fat attenuation even after accounting for weight change. Relative to weight-stable women (n = 129), women who lost >2.5 kg (n = 58) had smaller SAT attenuation decreases (p < 0.0001). Similar patterns were seen in men.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Weight gain was associated with decreases in fat attenuation independent of VAT and SAT volume changes. These findings highlighted the associations of weight gain and worsening fat attenuation, suggesting fat attenuation may be dynamic.
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Research and the Center for Population Studies, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.|Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Kate E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Therkelsen
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Research and the Center for Population Studies, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Alison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pedley
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, North Shore Physicians Group, Peabody, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Klara J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Rosenquist
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Hoffmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Massaro
authors.affiliation: Section of General Internal Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Murabito
authors.affiliation: Division of Intramural Research and the Center for Population Studies, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA.|Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Caroline S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Fox
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001835:Body Weight / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011860:Radiography, Abdominal / Q000379:methods; D012737:Sex Factors; D050151:Subcutaneous Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000502:physiology
keywords: adipose tissue; epidemiology; obesity; population studies