The Interplay Between Sex, Ethnicity, and Adipose Tissue Characteristics

Abstract

The obesity epidemic in the USA affects disproportionately women and the ethnic minorities. On the other hand, female sex is traditionally associated with a favorable fat distribution preferentially in the subcutaneous depots of the lower body and with improved endocrine and metabolic function of the adipose tissue. However, these data are derived from predominantly non-Hispanic white populations. This review discusses fat distribution patterns in women of diverse ethnic backgrounds, together with data on the release of adipokines from adipose tissue in these populations. Very little information is available on how the metabolic function of the adipocyte differs depending on ethnicity. Thus, it becomes clear that future clinical and translational research should explicitly discuss and take into account the sex and ethnic background of the populations studied.

Ethnicity and Type 2 diabetes in the UK

“…Consistently in the literature, South Asian people are reported to have higher amounts of body fat for a given BMI and a higher risk of developing central obesity compared with white Europeans despite similar or smaller BMI values . Evidence suggests that South Asians may be more prone to visceral fat deposition than white Europeans or African ancestry groups, who develop less visceral obesity for a similar BMI , although the evidence for this is not always consistent with the suggestion that visceral accumulation is more evident in men . There is a lot of interest in visceral fat in black populations, who despite exhibiting markedly greater insulin resistance than white Europeans have significantly less visceral fat .…”

Impact of statin therapy on plasma adiponectin concentrations: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 43 randomized controlled trial arms

“…The adiponectin gene (ADIPOQ) located at position 3q27 is considered the most important genetic factor regulating plasma adiponectin levels [5]. The levels of plasma adiponectin are higher in women than in men and vary by ethnicity, being lower in African-Americans than in Caucasians [6,7]. Several single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) of the adiponectin gene such as SNP45, SNP276, SNP11377 and SNP11391 were associated with low plasma concentrations of adiponectin and type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) [8].…”

Genetic risk score prediction of leg fat and insulin sensitivity differs by race/ethnicity in early pubertal children

“…Moreover, HA girls with higher levels of total body fat had a higher percentage of android/trunk fat and lower percentages of gynoid and leg fat compared to those with lower amounts of body fat 30 . From these observations, we propose that a reduced ability to store excess lipid in peripheral regions may be a driver for the increased truncal obesity and hepatic lipid accumulation observed in HA populations, 26,31,32 consequently leading to insulin resistance.…”