Title:

"Visceral Fat and Lipid and Inflammatory risk Factors: The Role of Ethnicity"

Principal Investigator:

Joan F. Carroll, Ph.D., F.A.C.S.M.

Abstract:

Both Hispanics and African Americans in the United States suffer disproportionally from obesity and its associated diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. Increased adipose tissue, particularly visceral adipose tissue, is a source of inflammatory cytokine production that may contribute to obesity-related cardiovascular risk. There is growing evidence that there are racial/ethnic differences in visceral adipose tissue deposition and in risk factor prevalence. Methods of predicting the extent of visceral adipose tissue, and thus associated risk, in minority populations are currently subject to controversy. Therefore, the overall goal of this project is to determine central fat distribution and its relationship to lipid and inflammatory cardiovascular risk factors in Hispanics and African Americans compared with Caucasians. Specifically, we will test the hypotheses that visceral adipose tissue mass is correlated most highly with waist circumference in minority as well as Caucasian groups, and that, in turn, waist circumference is most predictive of inflammatory cytokines and lipid risk factors in minority as well as Caucasian groups. We will test these hypotheses in Hispanic, African American and Caucasian adults by measuring body mass index (kg/m2), waist circumference, and waist-to-hip ratio using standard techniques, and lipid and inflammatory risk factors (standard lipids, CRP, ApoA1, ApoB, lipoprotein (a), homocysteine, and myeloperoxidase) from a fasting blood sample. We will measure visceral abdominal fat using CT scan techniques to more accurately assess relationships among visceral fat mass, anthropometric indices, and lipid and inflammatory risk factors. Waist circumference may be a more powerful predictor of risk than waist-to-hip ratio or body mass index, and will be useful as a field test for screening purposes. Determining the best simple anthropometric method to predict lipid and inflammatory risk factors will provide a valuable tool for screening Hispanic and African American individuals for cardiovascular risk, and for providing advance care and counseling before disease develops. Because of higher rates of obesity in minority groups and the large and growing minority population in Texas, results of these studies will provide valuable information for screening minorities for disease risk.

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