Fatness, fitness, and cardiometabolic risk factors in middle-aged white men

Abstract

The objective was to test the hypothesis that traditional and novel cardiometabolic risk factors would be significantly different in groups of men of different fatness and fitness.Total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, γ-glutamyltransferase, leptin, adiponectin, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-6, interleukin-10, fibrinogen, and insulin resistance were assessed in 183 nonsmoking white men aged 35 to 53 years, including 62 who were slim and fit (waist girth ≤90 cm and maximal oxygen consumption [VO 2 max] above average), 24 who were slim and unfit (waist girth ≤90 cm and VO 2 max average or below), 39 who were fat and fit (waist girth ≥100 cm and VO 2 max above average), and 19 who were fat and unfit (waist girth ≥100 cm and VO 2 max average or below). Seventy-six percent gave blood on 2 occasions, and the average of 1 or 2 blood tests was used in statistical tests. Waist girth (centimeters) and fitness (milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of fat-free mass) were associated with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, leptin, and insulin resistance after adjustment for age, saturated fat intake, and total energy intake. High-density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglycerides, alanine aminotransferase, and insulin resistance were significantly different in men who were fat and fit and those who were fat and unfit. These data suggest that differences in lipid and lipoprotein concentrations, liver function, and insulin resistance may explain why the risks of chronic disease are lower in men who are fat and fit than those who are fat and unfit. © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. IntroductionObesity is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus [1,2]; however, the risks of chronic disease are lower in obese men with moderate to high levels of aerobic fitness [3,4]. Total cholesterol concentration, blood pressure, and other traditional risk factors may not explain why the risks of chronic disease are lower in men who are fat and fit than men who are fat and unfit [3]. Therefore, we assessed traditional [5] and novel [6,7] cardiometabolic risk factors in the present study, including adipokines [7], markers of inflammation [6][7][8][9], and markers of liver damage [10][11][12]. We hypothesized that fatness and fitness would be related to cardiometabolic risk factors, and we hypothesized that traditional and novel risk factors would be significantly different in groups of different fatness and

Impact of Fitness Versus Obesity on Routinely Measured Cardiometabolic Risk in Young, Healthy Adults

“…had multiple cardiovascular risk factors but a small study population of 183 patients. 14 Similarly Hamer and Steptoe, Racette et al ., and Christou et al had small study populations of 176, 407, and 135 patients respectively. 15–17 Wing et al did have a large patient population of 5,145 but included relatively few cardiovascular risk factors including only measures of glucose tolerance, cholesterol and blood pressure.…”

“…Cross-sectional studies consistently show a much stronger relationship between CM risk and obesity than fitness, although both influence CM risk. Multiple studies of discordant pairs have shown that the fit/obese category has higher CRP, 14,15 worse glucose intolerance, 14–16 higher systolic blood pressure, 17,23 and worse HDL and LDL cholesterol 17, 23 than the unfit/not obese category. However, there has been some mild variation in the results.…”

“…For instance, O’Donovan et al found that fitness and obesity had equivalent impact on HDL and LDL, although obesity was the main determinant of CRP, GGT and insulin resistance. 14 …”

A cross-sectional study of low physical fitness, self-rated fitness and psychosocial factors in a sample of Finnish 18- to 64-year-old men

“…VFA describes abdominal obesity, which has been associated with increased risk for mortality and metabolic diseases [2,7]. Obese individuals with good PF have had less internal fat than obese and unfit individuals [1,38]. SSM describes fat-free mass, which has positive associations with functional ability and energy metabolism [39].…”

Mass spectral analysis of urine proteomic profiles of dairy cows suffering from clinical ketosis

“…Fibrinogen is a glycoprotein that is present in urine. It contains a, b, and g polypeptide chains, and it plays an important role in inflammatory and coagulation processes, especially local inflammatory responses (Flick et al 2004;O'Donovan et al 2012). The C1 inhibitor (C1INH) is a single-chain, glycosylated polypeptide with a molecular mass of 105 kDa that is secreted in liver by macrophages (Johnson et al 1971;Sim & Reboul 1981).…”