Visceral adipose tissue marginally more related to endothelium-dependent vasodilation than subcutaneous adiposity
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There is a close association between endothelial dysfunction and macroangiopathy, the former being increasingly considered a sentinel predictor of new-onset macroangiopathic events. The study was designed to test the hypothesis that visceral adipose tissue (VAT) was more inversely related to endothelium-dependent vasodilatation than subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT). A total of 3020 participants from the Framingham Offspring and Third Generation cohorts were included in the analysis. Multivariable-adjusted model analysis revealed that body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), VAT, and SAT were positively related to baseline brachial artery diameter and baseline mean flow velocity, while BMI, WC, VAT, but not SAT, were inversely associated with percentage of flow-mediated dilatation (FMD%). However, beyond traditional risk factors, there was little incremental increase in the proportion of variability explained by VAT compared to SAT. After adjusting for clinical covariates, VAT but not SAT was associated with FMD%, though the differential association with VAT compared to SAT was minimal.
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