title: Association of visceral fat area with abdominal skeletal muscle distribution in overweight Japanese adults.
abstract: Quantitative evaluation of visceral fat mass and skeletal muscle mass is important for health promotion. Recently, some studies suggested the existence of adipocyte-myocyte negative crosstalk. If so, abdominal skeletal muscles may easily and negatively affected not only by the age but also the visceral fat because age-related reduction in abdominal region is greater compared with limbs.
  
  
  
  We cross-sectionally examined the existence of quantitative associations between visceral fat area and abdominal skeletal muscle distribution in overweight people.
  
  
  
  A total of 230 Japanese males and females who aged 40-64 years and whose body mass index (BMI) was 28.0-44.8kg/m2participated in this study. The cross-sectional area (CSA) of the visceral fat, subcutaneous fat, and abdominal skeletal muscles, namely, the rectus abdominis, abdominal oblique, erector spinae, and iliopsoas muscles were measured by the computed tomography images.
  
  
  
  Stepwise regression analyses revealed the existence of sex difference in the relation between visceral fat CSA and other morphological variables. In males, BMI was a positive, and the iliopsoas muscle group CSA was a negative contributor of the visceral fat CSA. In females, both age and BMI were selected as positive contributors.
  
  
  
  These data suggested that the visceral fat CSA may negatively associated with iliopsoas muscle group CSA in males. In females, the visceral fat CSA was not significantly related to the distribution of the abdominal skeletal muscle groups.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Health Physical Fitness and Sports, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya 464-8601, Japan. Electronic address: tanaka-n@htc.nagoya-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Noriko I
authors.initials: NI
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8636, Japan. Electronic address: haruka-m@nih.go.jp.
authors.forename: Haruka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, National Center of Neurology and Psychiatry, 4-1-1 Ogawa-Higashi, Kodaira, Tokyo 187-8551, Japan. Electronic address: yohmori@ncnp.go.jp.
authors.forename: Yumi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohmori
authors.affiliation: Kanagawa Institute of Technology, Shimo-ogino, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0292, Japan. Electronic address: aiba@bio.kanagawa-it.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Aiba
authors.affiliation: Koshien University, 10-1 Momijigaoka, Takarazuka-shi, Hyogo 665-0006, Japan. Electronic address: a-morita@koshien.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Akemi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.affiliation: Life Science Promoting Association, 25-3-1004 Daikyocho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0015, Japan. Electronic address: watashaw@lifescience.or.jp.
authors.forename: Shaw
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Promotion, National Institutes of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, 1-23-1 Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8636, Japan. Electronic address: miyachi@nih.go.jp.
authors.forename: Motohiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miyachi
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition / Q000502:physiology; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D050177:Overweight / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Abdominal skeletal muscle; Asian; Computed tomography; Overweight; Visceral fat