Cerebral Blood Flow Alterations and Obesity: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Reduction in cerebral blood flow (CBF) plays an essential role in the cognitive impairment and dementia in obesity. However, current conclusions regarding CBF changes in patients with obesity are inconsistent.

A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed to evaluate the relationship between obesity and CBF alterations.

We systematically screened published cross-sectional and longitudinal studies focusing on the differences in CBF between obese and normal-weight individuals. Eighteen studies including 24,866 participants, of which seven articles reported longitudinal results, were evaluated in the present study.

The results of the meta-analysis showed that in cross-sectional studies, body mass index (BMI) was negatively associated with CBF (β= -0.31, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.44, -0.19). Moreover, this systematic review demonstrated that obese individuals showed global and regional reductions in the CBF and increased CBF in diverse functional areas of the frontal lobe, including the prefrontal cortex, left frontal superior orbital, right frontal mid-orbital cortex, and left premotor superior frontal gyrus.

Our findings suggest that BMI, rather than waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio, is inversely associated with CBF in cross-sectional studies. The CBF of obese individuals showed global and regional reductions, including the frontal lobe, temporal and parietal lobes, cerebellum, hippocampus, and thalamus.