Relationship between hydration of lean body mass and visceral adipose tissue. A clinical study of women.

OBJECT

To study the relationship between hydration of lean body mass and adipose tissue location.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional, clinical study of visceral adipose tissue area and total body water as a percentage of lean body mass.

PATIENTS

Seventy-two adult, overweight, women, 52 pre- and 20 post-menopausal (age: 18-72 years, body mass index: 26-52).

MEASUREMENTS

Total body water was obtained by electrical impedance measurement; visceral adipose tissue and lean body mass were obtained by computed tomography measurement of visceral adipose tissue area at the level of the 4th-5th lumbar vertebra.

RESULTS

Visceral adipose tissue was found, by multiple regression analysis, to be the only predictor of the hydration of the lean body mass. The other independent variables: age, menopausal status, body mass index, glucose and insulin both fasting and after glucose load were not able to significantly improve the predictive power.

CONCLUSION

Results of this study confirm the existence of a relationship between visceral adipose tissue content and hydration of the lean body mass.