Highlights
- •SAT is negatively associated with WMH volume in a neurologically healthy population.
- •This association was more prominent in female or severely obese participants.
- •Attenuated vascular risk factor, endothelial dysfunction, and chronic hypo-perfusion may be possible mechanisms.
Abstract
Although obesity has been proven as a risk factor of metabolic and cardiovascular
diseases, there have been few studies addressing the association between obesity and
cerebral white matter hyperintensity (WMH) volume with controversial findings. In
this study, we evaluated the relationship between abdominal fat distribution and WMH
volume in a neurologically healthy population. We performed an observational study
in a consecutive series of subjects who were examined during voluntary health check-ups
between January 2006 and December 2013. We directly measured both visceral adipose
tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) using abdominal computed tomography.
The WMH volumes were also recorded quantitatively. A total of 2504 subjects were included
in this study. In multivariate analysis, the relationship between SAT and WMH volume
remained significant (β = −0.170, standard error [SE] = 0.065, P = .006) after adjusting for confounding factors. The protective effects of SAT on
the WMH volume were more prominent in female participants (β = −0.295, SE = 0.138,
P = .033) and in severely obese participants (β = −0.358, SE = 0.167, P = .033). Conclusively, we demonstrated a negative association between SAT and WMH
volume in a healthy population.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 12, 2019
Accepted:
July 11,
2019
Received in revised form:
July 1,
2019
Received:
April 19,
2019
Identification
Copyright
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
