Increased brain cortical thickness associated with visceral fat in adolescents

Saute, Ricardo Lutzky; Soder, Ricardo Bernardi; Filho, José Osmar Alves; Baldisserotto, Matteo; Franco, Alexandre R.

doi:10.1111/ijpo.12190

Cited by 34 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…However, our results are not in line with other work exploring cortical thickness changes related to BMI in teenagers. To date, two studies did not find an association between BMI and cortical thickness [17,18]. The discrepancy between our results and these works could be explained by the age range of the sample, especially the upper age limit, because while both studies included adolescents not older than 18, we included participants in late adolescence, which comprises a stage between 18 and 21 years [45].…”

Section: Associations Between Cortical Gray Matter and Bmicontrasting

confidence: 85%

“…Both areas belong to the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). As far as we know, only Saute and colleagues [18] examined the possible association between adolescents' surface area and BMI. They did not find a relationship between surface area and BMI in 44 teenagers from 15 to 18.…”

Section: Associations Between Cortical Gray Matter and Bmimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To date, studies in adolescents assessing the relationship between cortical thickness and body weight are scarce and have produced conflicting results. While two studies showed a negative link between obesity and cortical thickness (Ross, Yau, & Convit, 2015;Yau, Kang, Javier, & Convit, 2014), others did not find any relationship with obesity neither BMI (de Groot, van den Akker, Rings, Delemarre-van de Waal, & van der Grond, 2017;Sharkey, Karama, & Dagher, 2015; but see Saute, Soder, Alves Filho, Baldisserotto, & Franco, 2018). Regarding the association between BMI and surface area, it has only been examined in adolescents in one study, which yield null results (Saute et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…To date, studies in adolescents assessing the relationship between cortical thickness and body weight are scarce and have produced conflicting results. While two studies showed a negative link between obesity and cortical thickness [14,15], others found no relationship with obesity or BMI [16][17][18][19]. Regarding the association between BMI and surface area, only one study has examined this which yielded null results [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Inflammatory agents partially explain changes in cortical thickness and surface area related to body mass index in adolescence

Prats-Soteras

Jurado

Ottino‐González

et al. 2019

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Excessive body mass index (BMI) has been linked to a low-grade chronic inflammation state. Unhealthy BMI has also been related to neuroanatomical changes in adults. However, research in adolescents is relatively limited and has produced conflicting results. This study aims to address the relationship between BMI and adolescents' brain structure as well as to test the role that inflammatory adipose-related agents might have over this putative link. We studied structural MRI and serum levels of interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), C-reactive protein and fibrinogen in 65 adolescents (aged 12-21 years). Relationships between BMI, cortical thickness and surface area were tested with a vertex-wise analyzes. Subsequently, we used backward multiple linear regression models to explore the influence of all inflammatory parameters in each brain-altered area. We found a negative relationship between cortical thickness and BMI in the left lateral occipital cortex (LOC), the left fusiform gyrus and the right precentral gyrus as well as a positive relationship between surface area and BMI in the left rostral middle frontal gyrus and the right superior frontal gyrus. In addition, we found that higher fibrinogen serum concentrations were related to thinning within the left LOC (β = -0.45, p < 0.001) and the left fusiform gyrus (β = -0.33, p = 0.035), while higher serum levels of TNF-α were associated to a greater surface area in the right superior frontal gyrus (β = 0.32, p = 0.045). These results suggest that adolescents' body mass increases are related with brain abnormalities in areas that could play a relevant role in some aspects of feeding behavior. Likewise, we have evidenced that these cortical changes were partially driven by inflammatory agents such as fibrinogen and TNF-α.

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Section: Associations Between Cortical Gray Matter and Bmicontrasting

confidence: 85%

Section: Associations Between Cortical Gray Matter and Bmimentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…To date, studies in adolescents assessing the relationship between cortical thickness and body weight are scarce and have produced conflicting results. While two studies showed a negative link between obesity and cortical thickness [14,15], others found no relationship with obesity or BMI [16][17][18][19]. Regarding the association between BMI and surface area, only one study has examined this which yielded null results [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Inflammatory agents partially explain changes in cortical thickness and surface area related to body mass index in adolescence

Prats-Soteras

Jurado

Ottino‐González

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…12 Using T2MR, previous in vivo studies using this technique have shown that T2 signal is increased in the MBH of adult humans in association with obesity 2,12,13 and insulin resistance, 12 which also suggests potential implications of hypothalamic gliosis for glucose regulation. 12 Correspondingly, distinct MRI approaches have been used to demonstrate abnormalities in obesity for both the brain's macrostructure (eg, cortical thickness and regional volume) 14,15 and functionality. [16][17][18] For example, functional MRI (fMRI) studies in adults with obesity suggest a disrupted hypothalamic response to glucose ingestion characterized by an attenuated response after glucose intake.…”

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confidence: 99%

Initial evidence for hypothalamic gliosis in children with obesity by quantitative T2 MRI and implications for blood oxygen‐level dependent response to glucose ingestion

et al. 2018

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Summary Objective In adults, hypothalamic gliosis has been documented using quantitative T2 neuroimaging, whereas functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has shown a defective hypothalamic response to nutrients. No studies have yet evaluated these hypothalamic abnormalities in children with obesity. Methods Children with obesity and lean controls underwent quantitative MRI measuring T2 relaxation time, along with continuous hypothalamic fMRI acquisition to evaluate early response to glucose ingestion. Results Children with obesity (N = 11) had longer T2 relaxation times, consistent with gliosis, in the mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) compared to controls (N = 9; P = 0.004). Moreover, there was a highly significant group*region interaction (P = 0.002), demonstrating that signs of gliosis were specific to MBH and not to reference regions. Longer T2 relaxation times correlated with measures of higher adiposity, including visceral fat percentage (P = 0.01). Mean glucose‐induced hypothalamic blood oxygen‐level dependent signal change did not differ between groups (P = 0.11). However, mean left MBH T2 relaxation time negatively correlated with glucose‐induced hypothalamic signal change (P < 0.05). Conclusion Imaging signs of hypothalamic gliosis were present in children with obesity and positively associated with more severe adiposity. Children with the strongest evidence for gliosis showed the least activation after glucose ingestion. These initial findings suggest that the hypothalamus is both structurally and functionally affected in childhood obesity.

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Associations Among Body Mass Index, Cortical Thickness, and Executive Function in Children

et al. 2020

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total of 13.7 million children in the United States younger than 18 years are obese, and an additional 12 million children are classified as overweight. 1 The percentage of extreme obesity among children has continued to increase in the past decade and is now estimated to be approximately 750 000, or 6%, of children who meet the diagnostic threshold for obesity. 2 The negative metabolic and cardiovascular sequelae of increasing adiposity, obesity, and chronic obesity in children is well established. Children with obesity are more likely to develop early-onset type 2 diabetes and heart disease, [3][4][5] tend to have more severe risk factors and disease burden, 6 and are at greater risk for premature mortality than their healthy weight peers. 7,8 Higher body mass index (BMI) (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) has also been associated with poorer cognitive performance across the lifespan, particularly in the domain of higher executive functions. [9][10][11][12] Less is known about the effects of obesity and being overweight on brain development and how this might interact with cognitive ability. Many neuroimaging studies [13][14][15][16] have found structural alterations in cortical regions involved in executive control in obese children compared with lean children. However, limited sample sizes, insufficient statistical power, differences in sample populations, and differing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) modalities have yielded mixed results. Maayan et al 13 reported that obese children performed worse on working memory tasks compared with healthy control individuals and had less orbitofrontal cortical volume, a brain region associated with appetite control. By contrast, Saute et al 14 found an association between IMPORTANCE A total of 25.7 million children in the United States are classified as overweight or obese. Obesity is associated with deficits in executive function, which may contribute to poor dietary decision-making. Less is known about the associations between being overweight or obese and brain development.OBJECTIVE To examine whether body mass index (BMI) is associated with thickness of the cerebral cortex and whether cortical thickness mediates the association between BMI and executive function in children. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSIn this cross-sectional study, cortical thickness maps were derived from T1-weighted structural magnetic resonance images of a large, diverse sample of 9-and 10-year-old children from 21 US sites. List sorting, flanker, matrix reasoning, and Wisconsin card sorting tasks were used to assess executive function. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURESA 10-fold nested cross-validation general linear model was used to assess mean cortical thickness from BMI across cortical brain regions. Associations between BMI and executive function were explored with Pearson partial correlations. Mediation analysis examined whether mean prefrontal cortex thickness mediated the association between BMI and executive function.RESULTS Among 3190 individuals (me...

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Increased brain cortical thickness associated with visceral fat in adolescents

Abstract: SummaryBackground: There has been a growing amount of evidence indicating that excess visceral fat is associated with alterations in brain structure and function, including brain cortical thinning in adults.

Cited by 34 publications

References 14 publications

Inflammatory agents partially explain changes in cortical thickness and surface area related to body mass index in adolescence

Inflammatory agents partially explain changes in cortical thickness and surface area related to body mass index in adolescence

Initial evidence for hypothalamic gliosis in children with obesity by quantitative T2 MRI and implications for blood oxygen‐level dependent response to glucose ingestion

Associations Among Body Mass Index, Cortical Thickness, and Executive Function in Children

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