ARS | Publication request: Androidal fat dominates in predicting cardiometabolic risk in postmenopausal women

Submitted to: Cardiology Research and Practice
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: November 24, 2010
Publication Date: January 20, 2011
Repository URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3010706/pdf/CRP2011-904878.pdf
Citation: Matvienko, O.A., Alekel, D.L., Bhupathiraju, S.N., Hoffman, H., Ritland, L.M., Reddy, M.B., Van Loan, M.D., Perry, C.D. 2011. Androidal fat dominates in predicting cardiometabolic risk in postmenopausal women. Cardiology Research and Practice. DOI: 10.4061/2011/904878.

Interpretive Summary: One third of baby boomers are overweight or obese. Obesity is associated with increasing risk for chronic diseases with increase medical costs. Fat deposits around the mid-section of the body, referred to as android fat, increases the potential for chronic disease more than fat deposited on the hip and lower extremities. We evaluated the influence of soy isoflavones to moderate the relationship among android fat mass and cardio-metabolic risk factors. Soy isoflavones are similar in chemical structure to estrogen and believed that consumption of soy isoflavones can mimic the effects of estrogen and thereby moderate blood lipid levels and other cardio-metabolic factors. We measured the amount of android fat mass in healthy postmenopausal women and determined the relationship between the android fat and biochemical markers of cardio-metabolic risk: blood triglyceride, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, blood sugar and insulin levels, and tests of inflammation. We found that inclusion of 80 or 120 mg/d of soy isoflavones did not alter the cardio-metabolic profile of healthy postmenopausal women. The single most important factor in the cardio-metabolic profile of these healthy postmenopausal women was the amount of android fat. A reduction in body fat is important to reducing cardio-metabolic risk factors.

Technical Abstract: We hypothesized that soy isoflavones would attenuate the anticipated increase in androidal fat mass in postmenopausal women during the 36-month treatment, and thereby favorably modify the circulating cardiometabolic risk factors: triacylglycerol, LDLC, HDL-C, glucose, insulin, uric acid, C-reactive protein, fibrinogen, and homocysteine. We collected data on 224 healthy postmenopausal women at risk for osteoporosis (45.8–65 y, median BMI 24.5) who consumed placebo or soy isoflavones (80 or 120 mg/d) for 36 months and used longitudinal analysis to examine the contribution of isoflavone treatment, androidal fat mass, other biologic factors, and dietary quality to cardiometabolic outcomes. Except for homocysteine, each cardiometabolic outcome model was significant (overall P-values from =.0001 to .0028). Androidal fat mass was typically the strongest covariate in each model. Isoflavone treatment did not influence any of the outcomes. Thus, androidal fat mass, but not isoflavone treatment is likely to alter the cardiometabolic profile in healthy postmenopausal women.