Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
Tohoku J Exp Med. 2012 Aug;227(4):297-305. doi: 10.1620/tjem.227.297.
The association between visceral adipose tissue (VAT) with cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been clearly demonstrated. Although typical VAT area at 4th and 5th lumbar vertebrae (L4-L5) is used to approximate VAT volume, growing evidence has suggested that this measurement site may not be ideal. However, these findings for Asian people remain unclear. Thus, we searched for the better VAT measurement sites associated with CVD risk factors in obese, Japanese men. Eighty-two obese men were included in a cross-sectional study. Among these participants, 37 men completed the 12-week intervention (90 min and 3 d/week) were used for addressing longitudinal association between the VAT measurement sites and CVD risk factors. Consecutive MRI images (from 3 cm below L4-L5 to 20 cm above L4-L5) were used to explore the relationship between each VAT area and CVD risk factors (total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin and blood pressure). The images located only 5-9 cm above L4-L5 had significant correlations with HDL cholesterol and triglycerides, but L4-L5 site did not in the cross-sectional analysis. In response to exercise, the image located 5 cm above L4-L5 showed the highest correlations with changes in total cholesterol (r = 0.46) and glucose (r = 0.36). Also, the image located 6 cm above L4-L5 showed highest correlations with changes in triglycerides (r = 0.37) and insulin (r = 0.37). Thus, the range of VAT images located 5-6 cm above L4-L5 may be optimal for identifying CVD risk factors compared to a typical site of L4-L5.
内脏脂肪组织（VAT）与心血管疾病（CVD）之间的关联已得到明确证实。尽管第 4 和第 5 腰椎（L4-L5）处的典型 VAT 区域常被用于估计 VAT 体积，但越来越多的证据表明，该测量部位可能并不理想。然而，这些发现对于亚洲人群仍然不清楚。因此，我们在肥胖的日本男性中寻找与 CVD 危险因素相关的更好的 VAT 测量部位。
这项横断面研究共纳入 82 名肥胖男性。其中 37 名男性完成了为期 12 周的干预（每周 90 分钟，3 次），用于研究 VAT 测量部位与 CVD 危险因素之间的纵向关联。连续的 MRI 图像（从 L4-L5 下方 3cm 到上方 20cm）用于探讨每个 VAT 区域与 CVD 危险因素（总胆固醇、高密度脂蛋白胆固醇、甘油三酯、葡萄糖、胰岛素和血压）之间的关系。L4-L5 上方 5-9cm 处的图像与 HDL 胆固醇和甘油三酯具有显著相关性，但在横断面分析中 L4-L5 处无相关性。在对运动的反应中，L4-L5 上方 5cm 处的图像与总胆固醇（r=0.46）和葡萄糖（r=0.36）的变化相关性最高。此外，L4-L5 上方 6cm 处的图像与甘油三酯（r=0.37）和胰岛素（r=0.37）的变化相关性最高。因此，与 L4-L5 的典型部位相比，L4-L5 上方 5-6cm 处的 VAT 图像范围可能更适合识别 CVD 危险因素。
