Peninsula Clinical School, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Frankston, Australia.
Department of Geriatric Medicine, Peninsula Health, Mornington, Australia.
Diabetes Obes Metab. 2024 Sep;26(9):3821-3829. doi: 10.1111/dom.15727. Epub 2024 Jun 20.
To examine the associations between visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and brain structural measures at midlife and explore how these associations may be affected by age, sex and cardiometabolic factors.
We used abdominal and brain magnetic resonance imaging data from a population-based cohort of people at midlife in the UK Biobank. Regression modelling was applied to study associations of VAT volume with total brain volume (TBV), grey matter volume (GMV), white matter volume, white matter hyperintensity volume (WMHV) and total hippocampal volume (THV), and whether these associations were altered by age, sex or cardiometabolic factors.
Complete data were available for 17 377 participants (mean age 63 years, standard deviation = 12, 53% female). Greater VAT was associated with lower TBV, GMV and THV (P < .001). We found an interaction between VAT and sex on TBV (P < .001), such that the negative association of VAT with TBV was greater in men (β = -2.89, 95% confidence interval [CI] -2.32 to -10.15) than in women (β = -1.32, 95% CI -0.49 to -3.14), with similar findings for GMV. We also found an interaction between VAT and age (but not sex) on WMHV (P < .001). The addition of other cardiometabolic factors or measures of physical activity resulted in little change to the models.
VAT volume is associated with poorer brain health in midlife and this relationship is greatest in men and those at younger ages.
研究中年时期内脏脂肪组织（VAT）与大脑结构测量值之间的相关性，并探讨这些相关性可能受年龄、性别和心脏代谢因素的影响。
我们使用了英国生物银行中年人群的腹部和大脑磁共振成像数据。回归模型被应用于研究 VAT 体积与总脑体积（TBV）、灰质体积（GMV）、白质体积、白质高信号体积（WMHV）和总海马体积（THV）之间的关联，以及这些关联是否受年龄、性别或心脏代谢因素的影响。
共有 17377 名参与者（平均年龄 63 岁，标准差=12，53%为女性）完成了完整的数据。较大的 VAT 与较低的 TBV、GMV 和 THV 相关（P<0.001）。我们发现 VAT 和性别之间存在交互作用，对 TBV 的影响（P<0.001），即 VAT 与 TBV 的负相关在男性中更为明显（β=-2.89，95%置信区间[CI] -2.32 至 -10.15），而在女性中则不太明显（β=-1.32，95%CI -0.49 至 -3.14），GMV 也有类似的发现。我们还发现 VAT 和年龄（但不是性别）之间存在 WMHV 的交互作用（P<0.001）。添加其他心脏代谢因素或身体活动的测量值对模型的影响不大。
VAT 体积与中年时期的大脑健康状况较差有关，这种关系在男性和年龄较小的人群中最为明显。
