The objective of the present study was to determine the respective contributions of
visceral adipose tissue (AT) accumulation and
cardiorespiratory fitness to variation of
inflammatory markers in men and women. Circulating levels of
C-reactive protein,
tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, and
adiponectin were obtained with
visceral AT (
computed tomography) and fitness (physical working capacity test) levels in a sample of healthy men (n = 120) and women (n = 152) covering a wide range of
adiposity. An
inflammation score was developed based on gender-specific
percentile values of each
inflammatory marker (0 or 1), which yielded a score ranging from 0 (low) to 4 (high).
Visceral AT was positively associated with
C-reactive protein and interleukin-6 levels (r > or =0.35, p <0.0001), but negatively associated with
adiponectin (r = -0.29, p < or =0.0003) after adjustment for fitness. After adjusting for
visceral AT, fitness was not associated with variation in
inflammatory markers in women and only with
adiponectin in men (r = -0.20, p = 0.03). In participants with low
visceral AT (<130 cm(2) for men and <100 cm(2) for women),
prevalences of participants with an increased
inflammation score were 23.9% and 28.0%, respectively, for participants with high and low fitness, whereas in subjects with increased
visceral AT,
prevalences of a high
inflammation score were 60.0% and 61.7%, respectively, for participants with high and low fitness. In conclusion, these results suggest that the previously reported association between poor fitness and low-grade
inflammation may be largely attributable to increased
visceral AT accumulation and its associated state of
insulin resistance, conditions frequently observed in subjects with poor
cardiorespiratory fitness.
