Is there a threshold of visceral fat loss that improves the metabolic profile in obese postmenopausal women?
It is presently unclear how much visceral adipose tissue (VAT) loss is needed to induce favorable metabolic changes. Cross-sectional studies have proposed that a threshold level of VAT exceeding 110 cm(2) in women induces deleterious changes in the metabolic profile. It is presently unclear, however, if significant decreases in VAT below this given threshold significantly improve the metabolic profile more as compared to decreases that remain below 110 cm(2). To examine whether achieving versus not achieving the proposed VAT threshold impacts differently on the metabolic profile in postmenopausal women, we examined the effects of a VAT loss below the 110-cm(2) threshold versus those individuals who remained higher than 110 cm(2) after a weight loss program. Twenty-five sedentary obese (baseline % body fat, 47.7% +/- 4.1%; [mean +/- SD]) postmenopausal women aged between 51 and 71 years (59.7 +/- 5.6 years) and displaying high baseline levels of VAT accumulation (223 +/- 45 cm(2)) were
