Fat accumulation in the tongue is associated with male gender, abnormal upper airway patency and whole-body adiposity

Abstract

Objective To examine associations between tongue adiposity with upper airway measures, whole-body adiposity and gender. We hypothesized that increased tongue adiposity is higher in males and positively associated with abnormal upper airway measures and whole-body adiposity. Methods We studied subjects who underwent whole-body positron emission tomography/computed tomography to obtain tongue attenuation (TA) values and cross-sectional area, pharyngeal length (PL) and mandibular-hyoid distance (MPH), as well as abdominal circumference, abdominal subcutaneous and visceral (VAT) adipose tissue areas, neck circumference (NC) and neck adipose tissue area. Metabolic syndrome was determined from available clinical and laboratory data. Results We identified 206 patients (104 females, 102 males) with mean age 56±17y and mean body mass index (BMI) 28±6kg/m2 (range 16–47kg/m2). Males had lower TA values (P=0.0002) and higher upper airway measures (P< 0.0001) independent of age and BMI (P<0.001). In all subjects, TA was negatively associated with upper airway measures (P<0.001). TA was negatively associated with body composition parameters (all P<0.0001), most notably with VAT (r=−0.53) and NC (r=−0.47). TA values were lower in subjects with metabolic syndrome (P<0.0001). Conclusion Increased tongue adiposity is influenced by gender and is associated with abnormal upper airway patency and body composition parameters.

Association Between Neck Circumference and Poor Outcome in Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage Patients: A Prospective Observational Study.

“…BMI only re ects the total body obesity and NC represents an alternative method for measuring upper body subcutaneous fat [25]. Moreover, it had been demonstrated that NC was associated with oropharyngeal fatty in ltration, which narrows the upper airway, resulting in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) [14].…”

“…Whereas, previous studies have showed that neck circumference (NC) could be used as a simple, feasible and stable evaluation index because it is not easily affected by eating or body position [12,13]. In addition, NC is related to oropharyngeal fat in ltration, narrowing the upper respiratory tract [14]. However, little is known about the role of NC in patients with ICH.…”

The Case of Sleep Apnoea and Cardiovascular Events

“…This limitation is extremely important when interpreting OSA cohort data since MRI and CT-measured intra-abominal fat 21 and ectopic fat in the tongue 22,23 are also the major drivers of OSA (AHI). Furthermore, tongue fat is strongly associated with visceral abdominal fat 22,24 and with increased risk of metabolic syndrome 24 .…”

Artificial Intelligence in the Evaluation of Body Composition

“…Although visceral adiposity and sarcopenia attract the greatest attention, other specialized body composition measurements have been examined including other ectopic foci of fat accumulation that are beyond the scope of this article. These include intermuscular adipose tissue (IMAT), 22 neck, 23 tongue, 24 and brown adipose tissue, 25 and the accumulation of lipids within skeletal muscle cells that affect insulin signaling and predispose to insulin resistance. 26…”