CARDIORESPIRATORY FITNESS, HIGH BODY FAT PERCENTAGE AND THE RISK OF CORONARY CALCIFICATION IN MIDDLE–AGED MEN

Abstract

Objective: Low levels of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) have been showed to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease(CVD). We tested the hypothesis that central obesity is associated with coronary artery calcification (CAC), but that fitness attenuates this association. Design and method: We analyzed men who participated in a health screening program. We measured CAC using multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) with a calculation of Agatston coronary artery calcium score. CAC score over 400 were defined as the prevalence of moderate to severe subclinical atherosclerosis. Central obesity was defined as body mass index (BMI) over 25kg/m2 and body fat percentage (BFP) over 30% in men. Fitness was directly measured by peak oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and divided into unfit (low tertile) and fit (middle and upper tertile) categories based on age-specific VO2peak percentiles. Results: Compared with normal weight men, central obese men was associated with a higher prevalence of CAC after adjusting for age, SBP, lipid profile, logCRP, s-glucose, heart rate, diabetes, and hypertension. The fit men was associated with lower odds ratios for having CAC. However, the fit with central obesity had odds ratios for CAC that were similar to those of the fit with normal weight. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that BMI and BFP are associated with increased risk of moderate to severe CAC score, but that high fitness appears to attenuate the risk in men.