Ozato Naoki, Saitou Shinnichiro, Yamaguchi Tohru, Katashima Mitsuhiro, Misawa Mina, Jung Songee, Mori Kenta, Kawada Hiromitsu, Katsuragi Yoshihisa, Mikami Tatsuya, Nakaji Shigeyuki
Department of Active Life Promotion Sciences, Graduate School of Medicine, Hirosaki University, Hirosaki City 036-8562, Japan.
Health & Wellness Products Research Laboratories, Kao Corporation, Tokyo 131-8501, Japan.
Brain Sci. 2021 Aug 4;11(8):1036. doi: 10.3390/brainsci11081036.
Visceral fat accumulation is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. Visceral fat is a causal risk factor for hypertension and type 2 diabetes, which was reported as one of the risk factors for dementia. Visceral fat areas (VFA) might be clinically important to prevent dementia; however, the association between VFA and cognitive function in the elderly remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate the association between brain structural abnormalities using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and VFA, and the association between cognitive function and VFA, in the elderly. A total of 2364 healthy individuals were enrolled, and we excluded those diagnosed with dementia. Participants were divided into a high-VFA and a low-VFA group based on median VFA. The high-VFA group had significantly lower cognitive function than the low-VFA group ( = 0.025), after adjustment for related factors using a linear regression model. Regarding brain structure in MRI, VFA remained significantly associated with white matter lesions (odds ratio (OR), 1.90; 95% confidence interval (1.33-2.70); adjusted < 0.001) and perivascular space (OR, 1.28; 95% confidence interval (1.02-1.61); adjusted = 0.033). Further follow-up studies are needed, but reducing visceral fat might be important, not only to prevent cardiovascular disease but also to prevent dementia.
内脏脂肪堆积是心血管疾病和死亡的独立危险因素。内脏脂肪是高血压和2型糖尿病的因果危险因素，而这两种疾病被报道为痴呆症的危险因素之一。内脏脂肪面积（VFA）对于预防痴呆症可能具有临床重要性；然而，老年人中VFA与认知功能之间的关联仍然未知。我们旨在评估老年人中使用磁共振成像（MRI）检测的脑结构异常与VFA之间的关联，以及认知功能与VFA之间的关联。总共招募了2364名健康个体，我们排除了那些被诊断为痴呆症的人。根据VFA的中位数将参与者分为高VFA组和低VFA组。在使用线性回归模型对相关因素进行调整后，高VFA组的认知功能显著低于低VFA组（P = 0.025）。关于MRI中的脑结构，VFA仍然与白质病变（优势比（OR），1.90；95%置信区间（1.33 - 2.70）；调整后P < 0.001）和血管周围间隙（OR，1.28；95%置信区间（1.02 - 1.61）；调整后P = 0.033）显著相关。需要进一步的随访研究，但减少内脏脂肪可能不仅对预防心血管疾病很重要，对预防痴呆症也很重要。
