Ectopic Fat Depots and Cardiometabolic Burden: A Possible Dangerous Liaison in Women Planning Assisted Reproduction

• Main Authors: Michela Cirillo (Author), Maria Boddi (Author), Maria Elisabetta Coccia (Author), Monica Attanasio (Author), Cinzia Fatini (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences, 2021-06-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 10.18502/jfrh.v15i2.6453; 1735-8949; 1735-9392
• Keywords: Assisted Reproductive Techniques; Heart Disease Risk Factors; Obesity; Metabolic Syndrome; Women's Health; Gynecology and obstetrics; RG1-991
• Source: Journal of Family and Reproductive Health, Vol 15, Iss 2 (2021)

Objective: We evaluated cardiometabolic burden in women planning assisted reproduction in order to identify subgroups at higher risk of pregnancy complications and cardiovascular disease. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study we investigated 60 infertile women with BMI≥25 kg/m2 referred to the Center for Assisted Reproduction. All women underwent metabolic, anthropometric parameters and ultrasound evaluation of ectopic fat depots. Results: All women had waist ≥80 cm. We found that 93.3% of women had pathological subcutaneous, 58.3% visceral and 80% para-perirenal fat; all women had fatty liver. Visceral fat and severity of steatosis were significantly related to the presence of metabolic syndrome (OR =5.7; p=0.03). A significant negative correlation between low HDL-c and para-perirenal fat (p<0.0001), a significant positive correlation with fasting plasma glucose and para-perirenal fat (p=0.001) were found. We observed a significant positive correlation between visceral fat and hs-CRP (p=0.002), HOMA-IR (p=0.04) and triglycerides (p=0.002), a significant negative correlation with HDL-c (p=0.05). Conclusion: This study by highlighting a clinically "dangerous liaison" between ectopic fat depots and metabolic/inflammatory markers, might permit to identify women with a worse metabolic phenotype and encourage lifestyle changes for improving their general and reproductive health together.