The association among peri-aortic root adipose tissue, metabolic derangements and burden of atherosclerosis in asymptomatic population

J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2016 Jan-Feb;10(1):44-51. doi: 10.1016/j.jcct.2015.10.002. Epub 2015 Oct 22.

Abstract

Aim: To describe the relationship between a novel measurement of peri-arotic root fat and ultrasound measures of carotid artery remodeling.

Materials and methods: We studied 1492 consecutive subjects (mean age: 51.04 ± 8.97 years, 27% females) who underwent an annual cardiovascular risk survey in Taiwan. Peri-aortic root fat (PARF) was assessed by cardiac CT using three-dimensional (3D) volume assessment. Carotid artery morphology and remodeling were assessed by ultrasound. We explored the relationships between PARF volumes, cardiometabolic risk profiles and carotid morphology and remodeling.

Results: Mean PARF volume in current study was 20.8 ± 10.6 ml. PARF was positively correlated with measures of general adiposity, systemic inflammation, and several traditional cardiometabolic risk profiles (all p < 0.001) and successfully predicted metabolic syndrome (MetS) (AUROC: 0.75, 95%, confidence interval: 0.72-0.77). Higher PARF was independently associated with increased carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT) (β-coef.: 0.08) and diameter (β-coef.: 0.08, both p < 0.05) after accounting for age, sex, BMI and other cardiovascular risk factors. The addition of PARF beyond metabolic syndrome components significantly provided incremental prediction value for abnormal IMT (ΔAUROC: 0.053, p = 0.0021).

Conclusion: Peri-aortic root fat is associated with carotid IMT, even after adjustment for cardiometabolic risks, age and coronary atherosclerosis. Further research studies are warranted to identify the mediators of downstream pathophysiologic effects on carotid arteries by PARF and understand the mechanisms related to this correlation.

Keywords: Adipose tissue; Cardiovascular disease risk factors; Carotid artery; Computed tomography; Metabolic syndrome.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / diagnostic imaging*
  • Adiposity
  • Aortic Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Aortic Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Aortography / statistics & numerical data
  • Asymptomatic Diseases / epidemiology
  • Carotid Artery Diseases / diagnostic imaging*
  • Comorbidity
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Male
  • Metabolic Diseases / diagnosis
  • Metabolic Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Risk Factors
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Taiwan / epidemiology
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / statistics & numerical data*
  • Ultrasonography