Association between Visceral Adipose Tissue Metabolism and Alzheimer's Disease Pathology

The visceral adipose tissue (VAT) has been recognized as an endocrine organ, and VAT dysfunction could be a risk factor for Alzheimer's disease (AD). We aimed to evaluate the association of VAT metabolism with AD pathology. This cross-sectional study included 54 older subjects with cognitive impairment who underwent 2-deoxy-2-[fluorine-18]-fluoro-D-glucose (F-18-FDG) torso positron emission tomography (PET) and F-18-florbetaben brain PET. F-18-FDG uptake in VAT on F-18-FDG PET images was used as a marker of VAT metabolism, and subjects were classified into high and low VAT metabolism groups. A voxel-based analysis revealed that the high VAT metabolism group exhibited a significantly higher cerebral amyloid-beta (A beta) burden than the low VAT metabolism group. In the volume-of-interest analysis, multiple linear regression analyses with adjustment for age, sex, and white matter hyperintensity volume revealed that F-18-FDG uptake in VAT was significantly associated with the cerebral A beta burden (beta = 0.359, p = 0.007). In conclusion, VAT metabolism was associated with AD pathology in older subjects. Our findings suggest that VAT dysfunction could contribute to AD development.

Automated summary

This study found an association between visceral adipose tissue (VAT) metabolism and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. The high VAT metabolism group showed a higher cerebral amyloid-beta (A beta) burden than the low VAT metabolism group. Additionally, F-18-FDG uptake in VAT was significantly associated with the cerebral A beta burden. These findings suggest that VAT dysfunction may contribute to the development of AD.