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Morphometric measurements of systemic atherosclerosis and visceral fat: Evidence from an autopsy study
Aline Nishizawa1,2, Claudia K Suemoto1,2,3, Daniela S Farias-Itao1,2
1Laboratory of Cardiovascular Pathology (LIM-22), Department of Pathology, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Insights
Greater abdominal visceral fat (AVF) links to more coronary artery atherosclerosis, while increased pericardial fat (PF) correlates with aortic atherosclerosis. This large autopsy study clarifies fat distribution
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular pathology
- Autopsy studies
- Atherosclerosis research
Background:
- Visceral fat quantification and atherosclerosis assessment typically require autopsy data.
- Previous studies had small sample sizes and focused on specific populations or arteries.
- This study investigates pericardial fat (PF) and abdominal visceral fat (AVF) in a large autopsy cohort.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the association between pericardial fat (PF) and abdominal visceral fat (AVF) with atherosclerosis.
- To assess atherosclerosis in the aorta, coronary, carotid, and cerebral arteries.
- To explore the interaction of PF and AVF with age in relation to atherosclerotic burden.
Main Methods:
- Evaluation of 240 deceased subjects aged 30 years and above.
- Morphometric measurements of pericardial fat (PF) and abdominal visceral fat (AVF).
- Assessment of atherosclerotic burden in major arteries (aorta, coronary, carotid, cerebral).
Main Results:
- Increased PF correlated with higher aortic atherosclerosis.
- Increased AVF associated with greater coronary stenosis and plaque count.
- No significant association found between PF/AVF and carotid or cerebral atherosclerosis.
- Significant interaction between AVF/PF and age observed for carotid artery atherosclerosis.
Conclusions:
- Abdominal visceral fat (AVF) is linked to increased atherosclerotic burden and extent in coronary arteries.
- Pericardial fat (PF) is associated with a higher degree of atherosclerosis in the aorta.
- Findings highlight differential impacts of fat depots on arterial atherosclerosis.
Background:
Morphometric measurements of systemic atherosclerosis and direct quantification of visceral fat are only possible using materials from autopsy studies. However, the few autopsy studies that have investigated the association of visceral fat with atherosclerosis had small sample sizes and focused on coronary arteries of young or middle-aged White subjects. We aimed to investigate the association of pericardial fat (PF) and abdominal visceral fat (AVF) with atherosclerosis in the aorta, coronary, carotid, and cerebral arteries in a large autopsy study.
Materials And Methods:
We evaluated deceased subjects aged 30 years or above. We dissected and weighted the PF and the AVF and evaluated the atherosclerotic burden in the aorta, as well as the carotid, coronary, and cerebral arteries using morphometric measurements. We also investigated the interaction of PF and AVF with age regarding the atherosclerotic burden.
Results:
The mean age of the 240 included subjects was 64.8±15.3 years, and 63% was male. Greater PF was associated with a higher degree of aortic atherosclerosis after adjusting for confounding variables (coefficient = 4.39, 95% CI = 0.83; 7.94, p = 0.02). Greater AVF was associated with a higher coronary stenosis index (coefficient = 1.49, 95% CI = 0.15; 2.83, p = 0.03) and a greater number of coronary plaques (coefficient = 0.71, 95% CI = 0.24; 1.19, p = 0.003). We did not find an association of PF or AVF with carotid or cerebral atherosclerotic burden. We found a significant interaction of AVF (coefficient = -0.08; 95% CI = -0.14; -0.02, p = 0.009) and PF (coefficient = -0.87, 95% CI = -1.70; -0.04, p = 0.04) with age regarding carotid artery atherosclerotic burden.
Conclusions:
Greater AVF was associated with greater atherosclerotic burden and extent in coronary arteries, while greater PF correlated with a higher degree of atherosclerosis in the aorta.
