Body Fat Pattern Linked to Cardiovascular Ageing

A UK cohort study suggested that both shared and sex-specific fat patterns influence cardiovascular ageing. In the study of 21,241 UK Biobank participants, machine learning was applied to 126 image-derived measures of vascular function, cardiac motion, and myocardial fibrosis to estimate cardiovascular age, with the difference from chronological age defined as the age-delta. Whole-body imaging was used to assess fat volume and distribution, and associations with age-delta were analyzed using multivariable regression and Mendelian randomization. Visceral adipose tissue, muscle fat infiltration, and liver fat fraction emerged as the strongest predictors of increased cardiovascular age-delta in both sexes, while abdominal subcutaneous fat and android fat mass were linked to greater age-delta only in males. In contrast, genetically predicted gynoid fat was associated with a lower age-delta. These findings underscore adipose tissue distribution and function as important targets for strategies to promote healthy longevity. Cardiovascular ageing reflects the progressive loss of physiological reserve driven by genetic and environmental risk factors, and obesity is known to accelerate this process. Source: https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/