Relationship between hydration of lean body mass and visceral adipose tissue. A clinical study of women

Abstract

OBJECT: To study the relationship between hydration of lean body mass and adipose tissue location. DESIGN: Cross-sectional, clinical study of visceral adipose tissue area and total body water as a percentage of lean body mass. PATIENTS: Seventy-two adult, overweight, women, 52 pre- and 20 post-menopausal (age: 18-72 years, body mass index: 26-52). MEASUREMENTS: Total body water was obtained by electrical impedance measurement; visceral adipose tissue and lean body mass were obtained by computed tomography measurement of visceral adipose tissue area at the level of the 4th-5th lumbar vertebra. RESULTS: Visceral adipose tissue was found, by multiple regression analysis, to be the only predictor of the hydration of the lean body mass. The other independent variables: age, menopausal status, body mass index, glucose and insulin both fasting and after glucose load were not able to significantly improve the predictive power. CONCLUSION: Results of this study confirm the existence of a relationship between visceral adipose tissue content and hydration of the lean body mass.