title: Effect of functional sympathetic nervous system impairment of the liver and abdominal visceral adipose tissue on circulating triglyceride-rich lipoproteins.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interruption of sympathetic innervation to the liver and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in animal models has been reported to reduce VAT lipolysis and hepatic secretion of very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) and concentrations of triglyceride-rich lipoprotein particles. Whether functional impairment of sympathetic nervous system (SNS) innervation to tissues of the abdominal cavity reduce circulating concentrations of triglyceride (TG) and VLDL particles (VLDL-P) was tested in men with spinal cord injury (SCI).
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred-three non-ambulatory men with SCI [55 subjects with neurologic injury at or proximal to the 4th thoracic vertebrae (↑T4); 48 subjects with SCI at or distal to the 5th thoracic vertebrae (↓T5)] and 53 able-bodied (AB) subjects were studied. Fasting blood samples were obtained for determination of TG, VLDL-P concentration by NMR spectroscopy, serum glucose by autoanalyzer, and plasma insulin by radioimmunoassay. VAT volume was determined by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry imaging with calculation by a validated proprietary software package.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significant group main effects for TG and VLDL-P were present; post-hoc tests revealed that serum TG concentrations were significantly higher in ↓T5 group compared to AB and ↑T4 groups [150±9 vs. 101±8 (p<0.01) and 112±8 mg/dl (p<0.05), respectively]. VLDL-P concentration was significantly elevated in ↓T5 group compared to AB and ↑T4 groups [74±4 vs. 58±4 (p<0.05) and 55±4 μmol/l (p<0.05)]. VAT volume was significantly higher in both SCI groups than in the AB group, and HOMA-IR was higher and approached significance in the SCI groups compared to the AB group. A linear relationship between triglyceride rich lipoproteins (i.e., TG or Large VLDL-P) and VAT volume or HOMA-IR was significant only in the ↓T5 group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Despite a similar VAT volume and insulin resistance in both SCI groups, the ↓T5 group had significantly higher serum TG and VLDL-P values than that observed in the ↑T4 and the AB control groups. Thus, level of injury is an important determinate of the concentration of circulating triglyceride rich lipoproteins, which may play a role in the genesis of cardiometabolic dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research & Development Service National Center for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States of America.|Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America.|School of Health and Medical Sciences, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, United States of America.|The Institute for Advanced Study of Rehabilitation and Sports Science, School of Health and Medical Sciences, Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1376-5152
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: La Fountaine
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research & Development Service National Center for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christopher M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Cirnigliaro
authors.affiliation: Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange, New Jersey, United States of America.|Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Steven C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Kirshblum
authors.affiliation: Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation, West Orange, New Jersey, United States of America.|Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America.
authors.forename: Cristin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McKenna
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterans Affairs Rehabilitation Research & Development Service National Center for the Medical Consequences of Spinal Cord Injury, James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Bronx, New York, United States of America.|Department of Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America.|Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: William A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Bauman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000294:innervation* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008074:Lipoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL / Q000097:blood*; D008099:Liver / Q000294:innervation* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000097:blood* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D008074:Lipoproteins; D008079:Lipoproteins, VLDL; D014280:Triglycerides; C030087:lipoprotein triglyceride