The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Androgens and body fat distribution☆
Section snippets
Body fat distribution and metabolic alterations
The importance of obesity and body fat distribution in the development of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease is of growing interest in the context of the worldwide obesity epidemic [1], [2], [3]. Adipose tissue accumulation within the abdominal cavity (visceral obesity) has been identified as a critical correlate of obesity-related metabolic disorders leading to insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, a dyslipidemic state and proinflammatory/prothrombotic alterations [4], [5], [6].
Sex-specificity of body fat distribution
There is a striking sex difference in body fat distribution between men and women. Men tend to accumulate adipose tissue in the abdomen (android fat distribution) while women tend to accumulate fat in the gluteal-femoral region (gynoid fat distribution). Abdominal adipose tissue areas measured by imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) also show a clear sex-related difference. In men, abdominal adipose tissue tends to accumulate in the visceral
Studies in men
Abdominal obesity is usually associated with low plasma testosterone levels in cross-sectional [14] as well as in longitudinal [15], [16] studies. Waist circumference and waist-to-hip ratio are also inversely associated with plasma sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels in these studies [14], [15], [16]. These results are confirmed by many studies which have measured abdominal fat areas using CT or MRI. In such studies, visceral fat accumulation measured by CT is significantly correlated
Exogenous androgens and body fat distribution
Elbers et al. [37], [38], [39] have shown that testosterone administration (250 mg intramuscular testosterone ester injections every 2–3 weeks) in female-to-male transsexuals changes their body fat distribution toward a more android pattern. In the latter studies, abdominal adipose tissue was assessed using MRI.
On the other hand, androgen treatment in hypogonadal men leads to a decrease in waist-to-hip ratio in one study [40]. No change in waist-to-hip ratio was observed after testosterone or
Androgens and adipose tissue function
Some studies have examined adipocyte cell size, lipoprotein lipase and lipolytic activities after androgen treatment in humans. Adipocyte size was decreased in abdominal subcutaneous and gluteal depots in female-to-male transsexuals under testosterone treatment [48]. Basal lipolysis in these subjects was significantly increased in abdominal but not in gluteal adipose tissue [48]. Rebuffé-Scrive et al. [49] have shown that norepinephrine-stimulated lipolysis was increased and LPL activity
Local androgen metabolism in adipose tissue and body fat distribution
The adrenal gland secretes steroid precursors of active sex hormones. From these precursors, the regulation of local sex steroid hormone concentrations can be achieved separately in each peripheral tissue. This process, termed “intracrinology”, depends on the tissue expression of specific enzymes involved in the synthesis and inactivation of sex steroid hormones [90]. Adipose tissue is known to express several steroidogenic and steroid-inactivating enzymes (reviewed in ref. [91]).
Several lines
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Cited by (0)
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Presented at the ‘12th International Congress on Hormonal Steroids and Hormones & Cancer’ (Athens, Greece, 13–16 September 2006).
- 1
Karine Blouin is the recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research studentship.
- 2
André Tchernof is the recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Scholarship.