Ethnic differences in body fat deposition and liver fat content in two UK-based cohorts
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Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Differences in the content and distribution of body fat and ectopic lipids may be responsible for ethnic variations in metabolic disease susceptibility. The aim of this study was to examine the ethnic distribution of body fat in two separate UK-based populations. METHODS: Anthropometry and body composition were assessed in two separate UK cohorts: the Hammersmith cohort and the UK Biobank, both comprising individuals of South Asian descent (SA), individuals of Afro-Caribbean descent (AC), and individuals of European descent (EUR). Regional adipose tissue stores and liver fat were measured by magnetic resonance techniques. RESULTS: The Hammersmith cohort (n = 747) had a mean (SD) age of 41.1 (14.5) years (EUR: 374 men, 240 women; SA: 68 men, 22 women; AC: 14 men, 29 women), and the UK Biobank (n = 9,533) had a mean (SD) age of 55.5 (7.5) years (EUR: 4,483 men, 4,873 women; SA: 80 men, 43 women, AC: 31 men, 25 women). Following adjustment for age and BMI, no significant differences in visceral adipose tissue or liver fat were observed between SA and EUR individuals in the either cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Our data, consistent across two independent UK-based cohorts, present a limited number of ethnic differences in the distribution of body fat depots associated with metabolic disease. These results suggest that the ethnic variation in susceptibility to features of the metabolic syndrome may not arise from differences in body fat.
Date Issued
2020-11
Online Publication Date
2020-09-24T10:48:06Z
Date Acceptance
2020-06-16
ISSN
1071-7323
Publisher
Wiley
Start Page
2142
End Page
2152
Journal / Book Title
Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.)
Volume
28
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2020 The Authors. Obesity published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of The Obesity Society (TOS).
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URI
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32939982
Subjects
Science & Technology
Life Sciences & Biomedicine
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Nutrition & Dietetics
SUBCUTANEOUS ADIPOSE-TISSUE
INSULIN-RESISTANCE
MASS INDEX
GLUCOSE-INTOLERANCE
WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE
METABOLIC SYNDROME
CENTRAL OBESITY
SOUTH ASIANS
RISK-FACTORS
ASSOCIATION
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Publication Status
Published
Country
United States
Date Publish Online
2020-09-16