Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - General Subjects
ReviewRole of visceral adipose tissue in aging
Section snippets
Obesity and disease
The prevalence of overweight (body mass index > 25) and obesity (body mass index > 30) now affects nearly two thirds of Americans and has reached epidemic proportions in most of the developed world. Obesity increases the risk for several co-morbidities including type 2 diabetes (T2DM) [1], stroke [2], cardiovascular disease (CVD) [3], and metabolic syndrome [4]. In a report from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III (NHANES III), by comparison with normal weight men, the odds
Abdominal obesity and disease risk in humans
The fundamental cause of obesity is a long-term imbalance in energy intake and expenditure (i.e., positive energy balance) leading to the increased body mass including the accumulation of subcutaneous (SC) and visceral fat (VF). Although general obesity is an important risk factor for many diseases, several human studies have demonstrated that VF accrual, which is the fat located in the viscera, as most strongly related to many health conditions, including CVD, insulin resistance and T2DM [14].
Animal models of obesity and disease
Human studies have clearly demonstrated that obesity, and specifically VF accrual is strongly associated with disease risk [14]. In order to better understand the pathophysiology of obesity in mammalians, several strategies have been developed and implemented including, high-fat feeding in rodents [34] and dogs [35], seasonal models of obesity [36], transgenic mice [37] and spontaneous mutants such as ob/ob and db/db mice [38]. A common feature of obese animal models is a marked increase in VF
Abdominal obesity and mortality risk in humans
Several studies have reported that obesity, generally defined as a BMI > 30, increases the risk of disease specific and all-cause mortality [48], [49], [50], [51] and reduces life expectancy [52]. Fontaine et al. [52] reported that Caucasian men and women who reached a BMI > 40 between the ages of 20 and 29 years, could expect a reduction in remaining years of life expected by approximately 6 and 12 years, respectively. Obesity has not only been linked to a reduced life expectancy but also to
The controversy of body fat in caloric restriction-associated longevity
Studies dating back to the early 1900s by Moreschi and Rous, and later by McCay and Tannenbaum [59], [60], respectively, were the first to demonstrate that a reduction in food intake was capable of increasing lifespan and inhibiting tumor formation in rats [61]. Nearly a century later, calorie restriction (CR) remains the only known behavioral intervention capable of delaying the onset of many age-related diseases and extending maximal longevity [62], [63]. This finding has since been extended
Leptin and β3-agonist administration
Our group and others have demonstrated various treatment strategies for VF and/or its complications. In an initial study [83], we administered leptin by osmotic minipumps for 8 days to rats, since this fat-derived peptide had been shown to play an important role in energy homeostasis. Remarkably, we found that leptin administration led to a more dramatic decrease in VF than pair-fed controls, which were moderately food restricted, but body weight and total FM were not different. Furthermore,
Perspectives
Numerous epidemiologic studies have implicated abdominal obesity as a major risk factor for insulin resistance, T2DM, CVD, stroke, metabolic syndrome and death. Utilizing novel models of visceral obesity, several studies have demonstrated that the relationship between VF and aging is causal while the accrual of SC fat does not appear to play an important role in the etiology of disease risk. Treatment strategies including pharmacologic agents (leptin, β3-agonists) can improve glucose tolerance
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (AG21654 and AG18381 to NB) and by the Core laboratories of the Albert Einstein Diabetes Research and Training Center (DK20541). DMH is supported by a postdoctoral T32 Training Grant (T32AG23475).
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2022, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta - Molecular and Cell Biology of LipidsCitation Excerpt :Adipose tissue, a heterogenous organ with critical functions in endocrine signaling and immune homeostasis, plays multiple roles in chronic and infectious diseases [1–4]. Aging is associated with increased visceral adiposity and increased inflammation [5]. The elderly also show increased risk for metabolic disease and reduced metabolic functions.