Journal
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-GENERAL SUBJECTS
Volume 1790, Issue 10, Pages 1117-1123Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.bbagen.2009.01.008
Keywords
Visceral fat; Longevity; Obesity; Metabolic syndrome; Restriction
Categories
Funding
- National Institutes of Health [AG21654, AG18381]
- Albert Einstein Diabetes Research and Training Center [DK20541]
- [T32AG23475]
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DIABETES AND DIGESTIVE AND KIDNEY DISEASES [P30DK020541, P60DK020541] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON AGING [P01AG021654, R01AG018381, R37AG018381, T32AG023475] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background: Visceral fat (VF) accretion is a hallmark of aging in humans. Epidemiologic studies have implicated abdominal obesity as a major risk factor for insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and death. Methods: Studies utilizing novel rodent models of visceral obesity and surgical strategies in humans have been undertaken to determine if subcutaneous (SC) abdominal or VF are causally linked to age-related diseases. Results: Specific depletion or expansion of the VF depot using genetic or surgical tools in rodents has been shown to have direct effects on disease risk. In contrast, surgically removing large quantities of SC fat does not consistently improve metabolic parameters in humans or rodents, while benefits were observed with SC fat expansion in mice, suggesting that SC fat accrual is not an important contributor to metabolic decline. There is also compelling evidence in humans that abdominal obesity is a stronger risk factor for mortality risk than general obesity. Likewise, we have shown that surgical removal of VF improves mean and maximum lifespan in rats, providing the first causal evidence that VF depletion may be an important underlying cause of improved lifespan with caloric restriction. General significance: This review provides both corollary and causal evidence for the importance of accounting for body fat distribution, and specifically VF, when assessing disease and mortality risk. Given the hazards of VF accumulation on health, treatment strategies aimed at selectively depleting VF should be considered as a viable tool to effectively reduce disease risk in humans. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available