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Higher abdominal adiposity is associated with higher lean muscle mass but lower muscle quality in middle-aged and older men and women: the Framingham Heart Study

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Abstract

Background

The objective was to determine if abdominal fat is related to poor muscle health.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 428 males and 534 females with appendicular lean mass (ALM, kg) from dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), grip strength (kg), and upper extremity muscle “quality” (grip strength/arm lean mass) measured (1996–2001) in the Framingham Offspring Study. Sex-specific linear regressions associated adiposity measures [waist circumference (WC, cm) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT, cm3), and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT, cm3)] as Z-scores with each measure of muscle, adjusting for covariates. Models were further stratified by body mass index (BMI, < 30, ≥ 30 kg/m2).

Results

Mean (± SD) age was 60 ± 9 years and BMI was 28.9 ± 4.6 kg/m2 (men) and 27.7 ± 5.8 kg/m2, (women). In men, the BMI-stratified analyses showed higher WC was associated with higher ALM (P < 0.0001 each) but with lower muscle quality (P < 0.02) in both BMI groups. Higher SAT was also associated with higher ALM (P = 0.0002) and lower muscle quality (P = 0.0002) in men with BMI < 30, but not in obese men. In women, higher WC, SAT, and VAT were each associated with higher ALM but lower muscle quality, particularly in obese women. Higher SAT (P = 0.05) and VAT (P = 0.04) were associated with higher quadriceps strength in women with BMI < 30 kg/m2 but not in obese women.

Conclusions

Higher abdominal fat may be associated with greater lean mass but poorer muscle quality, particularly in obese women. This suggests that adipose tissue may have endocrine influences on muscle, which should be confirmed in longitudinal studies.

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Availability of data and materials

Data described in the manuscript, code book, and analytic code will be made available upon request pending application to and approval by the Framingham Heart Study.

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Acknowledgements

Not applicable

Funding

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute On Aging of the National Institutes of Health under Award Numbers R03AG053679 and R01 AG051728; the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (grant number R01 AR041398); the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Framingham Heart Study (contract number HHSN268201500001I); the National Institute on Aging support of the Boston Claude D. Pepper Center Older American Independence Centers (grant number 1P30AG031679 to SS); and the MSTAR Training Grant (grant number NIA 5T35AG038027-09 (MPI) to RR). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Author notes

  1. Rachana Raghupathy

    Present address: Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northeast Ohio Medical University, Rootstown, OH, USA

    Rachana Raghupathy

  2. CorEvitas, LLC, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert R. McLean

  3. Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School Boston, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert R. McLean, Douglas P. Kiel, Marian T. Hannan & Shivani Sahni

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Contributions

The authors’ responsibilities were as follows—RRM, MTH, and DPK obtained funding; RRM designed the research; SS analyzed data with critical input from all the co-authors; RM and SS drafted the manuscript with editing by all the authors; SS had primary responsibility for final content; and all the authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shivani Sahni.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Sahni reports institutional grants from Dairy Management Inc., Solarea Bio Inc., has reviewed grants for the American Egg Board’s Egg Nutrition Center and National Dairy Council, and she serves on a scientific advisory board for the Institute for the Advancement of Foods and Nutrition Sciences (IAFNS, unpaid position ended July 2022). Dr. Kiel has received grant funding to his institution from Amgen, Solarea Bio Inc., and Radius Health. He serves on the scientific advisory boards of Pfizer and Solarea Bio Inc. Dr. Hannan has received institutional grant funding from Amgen. Dr. Raghupathy and Dr. McLean have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose related to this current work.

Research involving human participants and informed consent

This study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. All study participants gave informed consent for the parent Framingham Heart Study, which was approved by the IRB at Boston University. The current study utilized previously collected data and the protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board (or Ethics Committee) of Advarra (Protocol #Pro00044485).

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Raghupathy, R., McLean, R.R., Kiel, D.P. et al. Higher abdominal adiposity is associated with higher lean muscle mass but lower muscle quality in middle-aged and older men and women: the Framingham Heart Study. Aging Clin Exp Res 35, 1477–1485 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-023-02427-6

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