Possible Test for Visceral Fat Deposits?

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

Dr. Jimmy Bell was recently reported to have said that some slim

people have quite a lot of, potentially dangerous, visceral fat and

do not know it.

The following paper suggests a test may be developed for a protein

associated with higher levels of visceral fat:

Cell Metab. 2007 Jul;6(1):79-87

" Serum retinol-binding protein is more highly expressed in visceral

than in subcutaneous adipose tissue and is a marker of intra-

abdominal fat mass. "

Klöting N, Graham TE, Berndt J, Kralisch S, Kovacs P, Wason CJ,

Fasshauer M, Schön MR, Stumvoll M, Blüher M, Kahn BB.

Department of Internal Medicine III, University of Leipzig, D-04103

Leipzig, Germany.

" Intra-abdominal fat is associated with insulin resistance and

cardiovascular risk. Levels of serum retinol-binding protein (RBP4),

secreted by fat and liver cells, are increased in obesity and type 2

diabetes (T2D). Here we report that, in 196 subjects, RBP4 is

preferentially expressed in visceral (Vis) versus subcutaneous (SC)

fat. Vis fat RBP4 mRNA was increased approximately 60-fold and 12-

fold in Vis and SC obese subjects respectively versus lean subjects,

and approximately 2-fold with impaired glucose tolerance/T2D subjects

versus normoglycemic subjects. In obese subjects, serum RBP4 was

increased 2- to 3-fold, and serum transthyretin, which stabilizes

RBP4 in the circulation, was increased 35%. Serum RBP4 correlated

positively with adipose RBP4 mRNA and intra-abdominal fat mass and

inversely with insulin sensitivity, independently of age, gender, and

body mass index. RBP4 mRNA correlated inversely with GLUT4 mRNA in

Vis fat and positively with adipocyte size in both depots. RBP4

levels are therefore linked to Vis adiposity, and Vis fat may be a

major source of RBP4 in insulin-resistant states. "

PMID: 17618858

Rodney.