The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Subcutaneous obesity is not associated with sympathetic neural activation
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) would not differ in subcutaneously obese (SUBOB) and nonobese (NO) men with similar levels of abdominal visceral fat despite higher plasma leptin concentrations in the former. We further hypothesized that abdominal visceral fat would be the strongest body composition- or regional fat distribution-related correlate of MSNA among these individuals. To accomplish this, we measured MSNA (via microneurography), body composition (via dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry), and abdominal fat distribution (via computed tomography) in 15 NO (body mass index ≤ 25 kg/m 2; 22.4 ± 1.4 yr) and 9 SUBOB (25 ≤ body mass index ≤ 35 kg/m 2; 23.4 ± 2.1 yr) sedentary men. As expected, body mass (94 ± 4 vs. 71 ± 2 kg), total fat mass (25 ± 2 vs. 12 ± 1 kg), and abdominal subcutaneous fat (307 ± 36 vs. 132 ± 12 cm 2) were significantly higher in the SUBOB group compared with NO peers. However, the level of abdominal visceral fat did not differ significantly in the two groups (69 ± 7 vs. 55 ± 5 cm 2). MSNA was not different between SUBOB and NO men (23 ± 3 vs. 24 ± 2 bursts/min; P > 0.05, respectively) despite ∼2.6-fold higher ( P < 0.05) plasma leptin concentration in the SUBOB men. Furthermore, abdominal visceral fat was the only body composition- or regional fat distribution-related correlate ( r = 0.45; P < 0.05) of MSNA in the pooled sample. In addition, abdominal visceral fat was related to MSNA in NO ( r = 0.58; P = 0.0239) but not SUBOB ( r = 0.39; P = 0.3027) men. Taken together with our previous observations, our findings suggest that the relation between obesity and MSNA is phenotype dependent. The relation between abdominal visceral fat and MSNA was evident in NO but not in SUBOB men and at levels of abdominal visceral fat below the level typically associated with elevated cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk. Our observations do not support an obvious role for leptin in contributing to sympathetic neural activation in human obesity and, in turn, are inconsistent with the concept of selective leptin resistance.
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“This is consistent with evidence that muscle sympathetic nerve traffic correlates with visceral but not subcutaneous fat in obesity71–72.”
From The Sympathetic Nervous System Alterations in Human Hypertension (2015) · cites this paper as [72]
In the citing paper
“This is consistent with evidence that muscle sympathetic nerve traffic correlates with visceral but not subcutaneous fat in obesity71–72.”
From The Sympathetic Nervous System Alterations in Human Hypertension (2015) · cites this paper as [71]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Alvarez, G. E., Ballard, T. P., Beske, S. D., & Davy, K. P.
- Affiliations
- Virginia Tech (US)
- ORCID
- Davy, Kevin P.
- Venue
- American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology
- Publisher
- American Physiological Society
- Published
- 2004-07
- Volume
- 287
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- H414-H418
- ISSN
- 0363-6135 (ISSN-L)
- 1522-1539
- OpenAlex
- W2137441166
- Semantic Scholar
- b4c8c1b421291d2f249c98c28561bfb11a6096f8
- Cited by
- 121
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 7 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 9
- FWCI
- 4.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- American Journal of Physiology-Heart and Circulatory Physiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (HL62283, K02HL067227, R01HL062283, HL67227)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Adipokines, Inflammation, and Metabolic Diseases
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Endocrine and Autonomic Systems › Regulation of Appetite and Obesity
- Keywords
- muscle sympathetic nerve activity, visceral fat, leptin, sympathetic nervous system, body composition, regional fat distribution, obesity phenotypes, sedentary adults, cardiovascular risk, metabolic risk
- MeSH terms
- Abdomen, Adipose Tissue, Adult, Anthropometry, Body Composition, Humans, Male, Obesity, Sympathetic Nervous System, Case-Control Studies, Baroreflex, Muscle, Skeletal, Leptin, Subcutaneous Tissue
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