Excess adiposity impaired endothelial vasodilation by ~30% (P<0.01) compared to normal weight, but abdominal obesity did not cause greater impairment among overweight/obese men.
Cross-Sectional (n=60)
Does abdominal adiposity worsen endothelial vasodilator and fibrinolytic function in overweight/obese adult men compared to those without abdominal adiposity?
Excess adiposity impairs endothelial vasodilation and fibrinolytic capacity in men, regardless of whether the fat distribution is predominantly abdominal.
It has been suggested that body fat distribution may be an important determinant of the impact of adiposity on endothelial function. We tested the hypothesis that overweight/obese adults with abdominal adiposity exhibit worse endothelial vasodilator and fibrinolytic function than overweight/obese adults without abdominal adiposity. Sixty adult men were studied: 20 normal weight (BMI: 22.3 ± 0.7 kg/m2; waist circumference (WC): 84.9 ± 2.0 cm); 20 overweight/obese with WC <102 cm (29.2 ± 0.3 kg/m2; 98.1 ± 0.7 cm); and 20 overweight/obese with WC ≥102 cm (30.0 ± 0.4 kg/m2; 106.7 ± 1.0 cm). Forearm blood flow (FBF) responses to intra-arterial acetylcholine and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were measured. Additionally, net endothelial release of tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) was determined in response to bradykinin (BK) and SNP. Overweight/obese men demonstrated lower (~30%; P < 0.01) FBF responses to acetylcholine compared with normal weight controls. However, there were no differences in FBF responses to acetylcholine between overweight/obese men with (4.1 ± 0.3-10.8 ± 1.3 ml/100 ml tissue/min) and without (4.5 ± 0.3-11.6 ± 0.8 ml/100 ml tissue/min) abdominal adiposity. Similarly, endothelial t-PA release to BK was lower (~40%; P < 0.05) in the overweight/obese men compared with normal weight controls; however, t-PA release was not different between the overweight/obese men with (-0.7 ± 0.4-40.4 ± 6.2 ng/100 ml tissue/min) and without (-0.3 ± 0.6-48 ± 7.5 ng/100 ml tissue/min) abdominal adiposity. These results indicate that abdominal obesity is not associated with greater impairment in endothelial vasodilation and fibrinolytic capacity in overweight/obese men. Excess adiposity, regardless of anatomical distribution pattern, is associated with impaired endothelial function.
Weil et al. (Wed,) conducted a cross-sectional in Overweight/obesity and abdominal adiposity (n=60). Abdominal adiposity (waist circumference ≥102 cm) vs. Overweight/obese without abdominal adiposity and normal weight controls was evaluated on Forearm blood flow (FBF) responses to acetylcholine and endothelial t-PA release to bradykinin. Excess adiposity impaired endothelial vasodilation by ~30% (P<0.01) compared to normal weight, but abdominal obesity did not cause greater impairment among overweight/obese men.