The association of pericardial fat with calcified coronary plaque

Obesity (Silver Spring). 2008 Aug;16(8):1914-9. doi: 10.1038/oby.2008.278. Epub 2008 May 29.

Abstract

Background: Pericardial fat has a higher secretion of inflammatory cytokines than subcutaneous fat. Cytokines released from pericardial fat around coronary arteries may act locally on the adjacent cells.

Objective: We examined the relationship between pericardial fat and calcified coronary plaque.

Methods and procedures: Participants in the community-based Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA) underwent a computed tomography (CT) scan for the assessment of calcified coronary plaque in 2000/2002. We measured the volume of pericardial fat using these scans in 159 whites and blacks without symptomatic coronary heart disease from Forsyth County, NC, aged 55-74 years.

Results: Calcified coronary plaque was observed in 91 participants (57%). After adjusting for height, a 1 s.d. increment in pericardial fat was associated with an increased odds of calcified coronary plaque (odds ratio (95% confidence interval): 1.92 (1.27, 2.90)). With further adjustment of other cardiovascular factors, pericardial fat was still significantly associated with calcified coronary plaque. This relationship did not differ by gender and ethnicity. On the other hand, BMI and height-adjusted waist circumference were not associated with calcified coronary plaque.

Discussion: Pericardial fat is independently associated with calcified coronary plaque.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Adipose Tissue / metabolism*
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Asian / ethnology
  • Black or African American / ethnology
  • Body Mass Index
  • Calcinosis / diagnostic imaging
  • Calcinosis / epidemiology*
  • Calcinosis / ethnology
  • Cardiomyopathies / diagnostic imaging
  • Cardiomyopathies / epidemiology*
  • Cardiomyopathies / ethnology
  • Cohort Studies
  • Coronary Angiography
  • Coronary Artery Disease / diagnostic imaging
  • Coronary Artery Disease / epidemiology*
  • Coronary Artery Disease / ethnology
  • Female
  • Health Surveys
  • Hispanic or Latino / ethnology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pericardium / metabolism*
  • Risk Factors
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Waist-Hip Ratio
  • White People / ethnology