Shively Carol A, Register Thomas C, Clarkson Thomas B
Department of Pathology, Section on Comparative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA.
Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009 Aug;17(8):1513-20. doi: 10.1038/oby.2009.74. Epub 2009 Mar 26.
Our previous work in cynomolgus monkeys demonstrated significant relationships between (i) social reorganization stress and visceral fat deposition, and (ii) central fat deposition and coronary artery atherosclerosis (CAA). Nevertheless, direct relationships between CAA and visceral fat have not been demonstrated in people or animals, nor have relationships among stress, visceral obesity, and CAA been observed within a single study. Here, we examine the hypothesis that visceral obesity provides a link between social stress and CAA. Subjects were 41 socially housed females that consumed an atherogenic diet for 32 months. Social behavior and ovarian function were continuously recorded; dexamethasone suppression tests, telemetered overnight heart rate, BMI, visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal (SAT) adipose tissue were measured before necropsy. Females with high VAT:SAT were relatively subordinate, socially isolated, received more aggression and less grooming, desensitized to circulating glucocorticoids, had impaired ovarian function, higher heart rates late in the day, and more CAA than low VAT:SAT females. High-BMI females had higher heart rates than low-BMI females. Poor ovarian function in high VAT:SAT females is a novel observation suggesting the need for studies of fat distribution and ovarian function in women. The results of this study are the first to demonstrate a relationship between CAA and visceral obesity, and suggest that social stress may exacerbate CAA in part by increasing the ratio of visceral:subcutaneous fat mass in selected individuals susceptible to diet-induced CAA. Further studies are needed to understand the complex and multifactorial temporal relationship among relative visceral obesity, physiological stress responses, and CAA.
（i）社会重组应激与内脏脂肪沉积之间存在显著关联；（ii）中心脂肪沉积与冠状动脉粥样硬化（CAA）之间存在显著关联。然而，在人类或动物中，尚未证实CAA与内脏脂肪之间存在直接关联，且在单一研究中也未观察到应激、内脏肥胖与CAA之间的关联。在此，我们检验了内脏肥胖在社会应激与CAA之间起联系作用这一假说。研究对象为41只群居雌性动物，它们食用致动脉粥样化饮食32个月。持续记录其社会行为和卵巢功能；在尸检前进行地塞米松抑制试验、遥测过夜心率、测量BMI、内脏（VAT）和腹部皮下（SAT）脂肪组织。VAT: SAT比值高的雌性动物相对处于从属地位、社交孤立、遭受更多攻击且接受的梳理更少，对循环糖皮质激素脱敏，卵巢功能受损，傍晚心率更高，且比VAT: SAT比值低的雌性动物有更多的CAA。高BMI雌性动物的心率高于低BMI雌性动物。VAT: SAT比值高的雌性动物卵巢功能差是一项新发现，表明有必要对女性的脂肪分布和卵巢功能进行研究。本研究结果首次证实了CAA与内脏肥胖之间的关联，并表明社会应激可能部分通过增加特定易患饮食诱导性CAA个体的内脏:皮下脂肪量比值而加重CAA。需要进一步研究以了解相对内脏肥胖、生理应激反应和CAA之间复杂的多因素时间关系。
