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Bioavailable testosterone affected fat distribution during menopause
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Bioavailable testosterone could play a key role in the redistribution of visceral and subcutaneous fat in the central abdominal region in women during menopause, according to findings published in Obesity.
“An increase in adipose tissue was significantly associated with menopause-related change in hormones, independent of aging,” the researchers wrote. “This menopause effect was characterized by increasing bioavailable testosterone.”
Imke Janssen, PhD, of Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues studied a population-based cohort of 243 women (44% black, 56% white) involved in the Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) Fat Patterning Study. Women aged 42 to 52 years not using hormone therapy were eligible; there was a 72% participation rate.
The investigators paired annual assessments of adiposity measures gathered over 4 years from the ancillary study at the Chicago site with reproductive hormones collected by SWAN; computed tomography was used to assess visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry to assess total body fat.
VAT increased by 3.8% and SAT by 1.8% per year. Change in bioavailable testosterone showed significant positive associations with changes in VAT and in SAT; no relationship was observed between the natural increases in testosterone and change in total body fat.
The associations demonstrated were independent of age, race, physical activity, smoking, baseline total body fat, baseline bioavailable testosterone and change in total body fat. Change in estradiol was not related to changes in any adiposity measure.
The findings reflect a shift in the balance of estrogen and testosterone in the hormonal milieu during menopause toward increased androgenicity and carry other health implications, according to the researchers.
“Since central adiposity is a major predictor of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, testosterone predominance during the menopausal transition may be an important target for cardiometabolic disease prevention,” they wrote.
Disclosure: SWAN was supported by NIH, Department of Health and Human Services through NIA, the National Institute of Nursing Research and the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health. The SWAN Fat Patterning Study was supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Charles and Margaret Roberts Trust.
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