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Observational Study
. 2014 Dec 17;9(12):e115407.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115407. eCollection 2014.

Impact of visceral fat on skeletal muscle mass and vice versa in a prospective cohort study: the Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS)

Tae Nyun Kim  1 , Man Sik Park  2 , Ja Young Ryu  3 , Hae Yoon Choi  3 , Ho Cheol Hong  3 , Hye Jin Yoo  3 , Hyun Joo Kang  4 , Wook Song  5 , Seok Won Park  6 , Sei Hyun Baik  3 , Anne B Newman  7 , Kyung Mook Choi  3
Affiliations
Observational Study

Impact of visceral fat on skeletal muscle mass and vice versa in a prospective cohort study: the Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS)

Tae Nyun Kim et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Objectives: Sarcopenia and visceral obesity have been suggested to aggravate each other, resulting in a vicious cycle. However, evidence based on prospective study is very limited. Our purpose was to investigate whether visceral fat promotes a decrease in skeletal muscle mass and vice versa.

Methods: We observed changes in anthropometric and body composition data during a follow-up period of 27.6 ± 2.8 months in 379 Korean men and women (mean age 51.9 ± 14.6 years) from the Korean Sarcopenic Obesity Study (KSOS). Appendicular lean soft tissue (ALST) mass was calculated using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry, and visceral fat area (VFA) was measured using computed tomography at baseline and follow-up examination.

Results: ALST mass significantly decreased, whereas trunk and total fat mass increased in both men and women despite no significant change in weight and body mass index. In particular, women with visceral obesity at baseline had a greater decrease in ALST mass than those without visceral obesity (P = 0.001). In multiple linear regression analysis, baseline VFA was an independent negative predictor of the changes in ALST after adjusting for confounding factors including age, gender, life style and body composition parameters, insulin resistance, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and vitamin D levels (P = 0.001), whereas the association between baseline ALST mass and changes in VFA was not statistically significant (P = 0.555).

Conclusions: This longitudinal study showed that visceral obesity was associated with future loss of skeletal muscle mass in Korean adults. These results may provide novel insight into sarcopenic obesity in an aging society.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Relationship between baseline visceral fat area and changes in appendicular lean soft tissue mass and vice versa.
Scatter plot of baseline visceral fat area (cm2) against change in appendicular soft tissue mass (kg) (A) and vice versa (B).
Figure 2
Figure 2. Changes in appendicular lean soft tissue mass in participants classified on the basis of visceral obesity (A) and changes in visceral fat area according to the presence of sarcopenia (B) in men and women.
The box plot display the 25th, median and 75th percentiles and the minimum and maximum levels as horizontal lines outside the box.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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