Influences of gender on the interaction between sympathetic nerve traffic and central adiposity

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Influences of gender on the interaction between sympathetic nerve traffic and central adiposity
Creators Name:	Tank, J. and Heusser, K. and Diedrich, A. and Hering, D. and Luft, F.C. and Busjahn, A. and Narkiewicz, K. and Jordan, J.
Abstract:	Context. Sympathetic activation promotes insulin resistance and arterial hypertension with increasing adiposity. A difference in the relationship between adiposity and sympathetic activity between women and men could contribute to the known gender difference in cardiovascular disease risk. Objective. We tested whether or not muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) is correlated differently with waist circumference, waist-hip-ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) in women and in men. Design and Setting. We pooled data from two microneurography centers (Berlin, Germany; Gdansk, Poland) for a cross sectional study. Participants. We studied 111 normotensive, healthy caucasian subjects (70 males and 41 females). Age ranged between 19 to 62 years and body mass index ranged between 18 to 40 kg/m(2). Intervention. No intervention was applied during the study. Measurements. Supine heart rate, blood pressure, and MSNA were recorded after at least 30 min rest. Results. MSNA in bursts/min was age-dependent in both sexes (r male=0.56, r female=0.34, p<0.01). Controlling for waist and hip circumferences, age-dependence remained highly significant in men (r=0.43) and women (r=0.43). Adjusting for age, in men, waist circumference (r=0.29), WHR (r=0.39) and BMI (r=0.31) were predictive for MSNA and directly correlated (p<0.01) but not in women. Adjusting for BMI, in men, only WHR (r=0.40) remained predictive for MSNA. Conclusion. These data support the hypothesis of a gender difference in the regulation of the sympathetic nervous system, in which MSNA mainly relates to WHR in men but not in women. The phenomenon may contribute to the sexual dimorphism in cardiovascular disease risk.
Keywords:	Gender, Body Fat, Waist-Circumference, Sympathetic Nervous System, Microneurography, Adiposity, Blood Pressure, Body Mass Index, Cross-Sectional Studies, Electrocardiography, Heart Rate, Skeletal Muscle, Sex Characteristics, Sympathetic Nervous System, Waist Circumference
Source:	Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
ISSN:	0021-972X
Publisher:	Endocrine Society
Volume:	93
Number:	12
Page Range:	4974-4978
Date:	December 2008
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1210/jc.2007-2820
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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