Abstract
Obesity, particularly abdominal obesity, might be related to decreased lung function. We aimed to investigate whether obesity indices are associated with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) in asymptomatic non-smokers through a longitudinal cohort study. The clinical records of 1,145 subjects (428 males, mean age 52.3 years) who underwent a comprehensive health evaluation, including spirometry and abdominal fat computed tomography, at least twice between 2007 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed and analysed. The mean follow-up period was 1,105 days (over 3.0 years). The baseline total adipose tissue (TAT) and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) were inversely associated with both FEV1 and FVC (P < 0.05). The longitudinal study found that increasing TAT and VAT were significantly related to decreasing FEV1 and FVC, whereas decreasing TAT and VAT were related to increasing FEV1 and FVC in both males and females (P < 0.05). The strength and consistency of these associations were clearer in males than in females. However, no significant relationship was found between changes in subcutaneous adipose tissue and changes in lung function. In Korean non-smokers, longitudinal changes in abdominal visceral fat were found to be inversely related to changes in lung function over a mean period of three years. These results suggest that decreasing abdominal visceral obesity could increase lung function despite ageing.
Highlights
Obesity is associated with many health-related problems, including respiratory diseases [1,2]
Abdominal adiposity consists of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT)
Lung function was significantly associated with abdominal obesity, visceral fat, in asymptomatic non-smokers after adjusting for variables
Summary
Obesity is associated with many health-related problems, including respiratory diseases [1,2]. Several studies have suggested that obesity, abdominal obesity, is related to decreased pulmonary function [3,4,5,6,7]. Changes in lung function and abdominal obesity high-density lipoprotein; CRP, C-reactive protein; HbA1c, haemoglobin A1c; IL, interleukin; FEV1, forced expiratory volume in one second; FVC, forced vital capacity; TAT, total adipose tissue; VAT, visceral adipose tissue; SAT, subcutaneous adipose tissue. In a previous crosssectional study in Korea, the amount of adipose tissue, TAT, SAT, or VAT, was inversely related to lung function among non-smokers [3]. Visceral fat was negatively correlated with forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) in non-diabetic men [6]. The results are inconsistent regarding the association between abdominal obesity and pulmonary function [3,6,7]
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