Background/objective: The location of the adipose tissue within the human body is related with different inflammatory status, however there is still no plain understanding on which fat depots are associated with increasing or decreasing concentrations of specific markers of inflammation. This study aimed to estimate the associations between total body fat, limbs' fat and trunk fat with several markers of inflammation.
Subjects/methods: A cross-sectional analysis of 546 adults (aged 27 years) was conducted as part of the EPITeen cohort. Variables on adiposity were assessed using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Markers of inflammation were determined based on the serum concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP), adiponectin, leptin, resistin, interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) of the participants. The associations were estimated by linear regression models - models based on ordinary least squares (OLS) and least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) were performed.
Results: Trunk fat and limbs' fat have significantly different associations [β (95% CI)] with the same marker of inflammation. This applies to hsCRP in men [trunk: 0.065 (0.025, 0.106), limbs: -0.050 (-0.103, 0.004)], adiponectin in both sexes [trunk: -0.088 (-0.144, -0.032), limbs: 0.125 (0.054, 0.196) for women; trunk: -0.084 (-0.124, -0.044), limbs: 0.073 (0.020, 0.126) for men], leptin in women [trunk: 0.037 (0.003, 0.070), limbs: 0.116 (0.074, 0.159)], and PAI-1 in women [trunk: 0.025 (0.006, 0.044), limbs: -0.021 (-0.045, 0.003)].
Conclusions: We found significant differences between limbs' and trunk fat for hsCRP (men), adiponectin (both sexes), leptin (women), and PAI-1 (women), with trunk fat being associated with higher levels of pro-inflammatory markers.
© 2025. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.