Visceral fat loss measured by magnetic resonance imaging in relation to changes in serum lipid levels of obese men and women.

The effect of weight reduction on serum lipids in relation to visceral fat accumulation was studied in 78 healthy obese subjects (40 premenopausal women and 38 men) aged 27-51 years and with an initial body mass index of 30.7 +/- 2.2 kg/m2 (mean +/- SD). The subjects received a 4.2 MJ/day energy-deficit diet for 13 weeks. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess abdominal fat areas before and after weight loss. Weight reductions of 12.6 +/- 3.2 kg in men and 11.7 +/- 3.8 kg in women resulted in larger reductions in the fasting serum levels of total cholesterol (p < 0.05), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.06), and triglycerides (p < 0.01) and a larger increase in the high density lipoprotein cholesterol/low density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (p = 0.05) in men compared with women. Men also lost more visceral fat (p < 0.0001), whereas the reductions in the total and subcutaneous abdominal fat depots were similar. In women, visceral fat loss was significantly related with an increase of the high density lipoprotein cholesterol level, independent of the degree of total fat loss. In men, however, no significant correlations were observed between changes in visceral fat and any of the serum lipids. Comparisons of average changes in obese men and women suggest that visceral fat loss is associated with an improvement of the serum lipid profile. However, correlation analysis does not support a critical role of visceral fat in determining serum lipid concentrations on an individual level, except for an improvement of the high density lipoprotein cholesterol level with visceral fat loss in obese women.