scholarly journals Association Between Muscle Quality Measured by Abdominal Computed Tomography and Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis

Author(s):  
Min Jung Lee ◽  
Hong-Kyu Kim ◽  
Eun Hee Kim ◽  
Sung Jin Bae ◽  
Kyung Won Kim ◽  
...  

Objective: Low muscle mass was known to be associated with cardiovascular diseases. However, only few studies investigated the association between muscle quality and subclinical coronary atherosclerosis. Thus, we evaluated whether muscle quality measured by abdominal computed tomography is associated with the risk of coronary artery calcification. Approach and Results: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 4068 subjects without cardiovascular disease who underwent abdominal and coronary computed tomography between 2012 and 2013 during health examinations. The cross-sectional area of the skeletal muscle was measured at the L3 level (total abdominal muscle area, total abdominal muscle area) and segmented into normal attenuation muscle area, low attenuation muscle area, and intramuscular adipose tissue. We calculated the normal attenuation muscle area/total abdominal muscle area index, of which a higher value reflected a higher proportion of good quality muscle (normal attenuation muscle area) and a lower proportion of myosteatosis (low attenuation muscle area and intramuscular adipose tissue). In women, as the normal attenuation muscle area/total abdominal muscle area quartiles increased, the odds ratios (95% CIs) for significant coronary artery calcification (>100) consistently decreased (0.44 [0.24–0.80], 0.39 [0.19–0.81], 0.34 [0.12–0.98]; P =0.003) after adjusting for cardiovascular risk factors including visceral fat area and insulin resistance. In men, the odds ratios in the Q2 group were significantly lower than those in the Q1, but the association was attenuated in Q3–4 after adjustment. Conclusions: A higher proportion of good quality muscle was strongly associated with a lower prevalence of significant coronary artery calcification after adjustment, especially in women. Poor skeletal muscle quality may be an important risk factor for subclinical coronary atherosclerosis.

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1197
Author(s):  
Tae Young Lee ◽  
Young-Jee Jeon ◽  
Chung Reen Kim ◽  
Byung Ju Kang ◽  
Gyung-Min Park

Computed tomography (CT) is a reference method for measuring skeletal muscle mass, and the amount of fat in the skeletal muscle can be calculated based on CT attenuation. This study aimed to comprehensively investigate the effect of muscle quality and quantity on metabolic syndrome (MetS) according to sex. This retrospective cross-sectional study enrolled 8081 individuals aged ≥20 years who underwent self-referral abdominopelvic CT at our hospital. The total abdominal muscle area (TAMA), low-attenuation abdominal muscle area (LAMA), normal-attenuation abdominal muscle area (NAMA), and extramyocellular lipid area (EMCLA) were measured using cross-sectional CT data of the L3 lumbar vertebrae. The TAMA and NAMA showed negative correlations with risk factors for MetS and a positive correlation with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, whereas the LAMA and EMCLA showed an inverse trend in both the sexes (p < 0.001). After adjusting for various factors, a higher LAMA index and the ratio of LAMA to TAMA were associated with a higher prevalence of MetS. High TAMA indices were associated with a lower prevalence of MetS. Furthermore, muscle quality and quantity were associated with the prevalence of MetS in both males and females. However, the LAMA showed a stronger association with MetS in males than in females.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
V Aengevaeren ◽  
A Mosterd ◽  
T.L Braber ◽  
H.M Nathoe ◽  
T.M.H Eijsvogels ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Emerging evidence indicates increased coronary atherosclerosis in amateur athletes. However, previous studies were limited by its cross-sectional design and limited sample size, preventing the exploration of sport specific associations with coronary atherosclerosis. Purpose We aimed to compare the incidence and progression of coronary artery calcification (CAC) between runners, cyclists and other types of athletes using a prospective cohort study with repetitive measurements. Methods Asymptomatic middle-aged men, who previously underwent a sports medical evaluation without abnormalities, were recruited in the Measuring Athlete's Risk of Cardiovascular events (MARC) study (n=318) and were asked to participate in this follow-up study. CT imaging was performed to assess CAC scores. Data was collected between 2012–2014 (i.e. baseline) and 2019–2020 (i.e. follow-up). We categorized participants as runners, cyclists or “other” sports (e.g. water polo, tennis, hockey, etc.) based on their dominant sport performance at baseline. Results We included 260 men in this interim analysis, with an average follow-up time of 6.3±0.5 years. Age (61.4±6.4 years), systolic blood pressure (143±20 mmHg), BMI (25.2±2.8 kg/m2), LDL-cholesterol (3.2±0.9 mmol/L), smoking (0.3 [0–8] pack years) and family history of coronary heart disease (28%) did not differ between runners (n=64), cyclists (n=75) and other athletes (n=121, all p&gt;0.05). CAC was present in 137 (53%) men at baseline, which increased to 181 (70%) at follow-up. CAC scores increased from 1 [0–33] to 33 [0–129]. Cyclists had a lower CAC prevalence and CAC scores compared to individuals performing other sports at follow-up (Figure 1). Of those without CAC at baseline (n=123, 47%), cyclists less often developed CAC during follow-up compared with runners (adjusted OR=0.36 [0.17–0.79], p=0.01). In the entire cohort, CAC progression (ln delta CAC+1) was less prominent in cyclists than runners (adjusted B=−0.75 [−1.39 to −0.11], p=0.02), whereas progression of CAC in participants performing other sports did not differ from the runners. In participants with CAC at baseline, cyclists also had less CAC progression than runners (B=−0.49 [−0.95 to −0.02], p=0.04). Conclusion Cyclists have a lower incidence and less progression of CAC during 6 years of follow-up compared with runners and individuals performing other sports. Figure 1. Sport specific CAC prevalence and scores Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Foundation. Main funding source(s): Hartstichting


2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (04) ◽  
pp. 234-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Widorini Widorini ◽  
J. Nugroho

AbstractCoronary artery calcification is a part of atherosclerosis process associated with coronary heart disease. Recently, coronary artery calcification assessment using computed tomography (CT) is still the best noninvasive imaging with high sensitivity and specificity. Osteoprotegerin (OPG) is one of vascular calcification marker that through its role to bind receptor activator of nuclear factor-κβ ligand and inhibit osteoclastogenesis is suspected of playing a role for coronary calcification in atherosclerosis process. The objective of this study was to prove a positive correlation between OPG serum level and coronary calcification using coronary artery calcium (CAC) score in patient with moderate–severe cardiovascular (CV) risk factor. This is a cross-sectional study with purposive sampling technique. Thirty-three subjects participate in this research and each subject underwent a multislice computed tomography (MSCT) examination to assess coronary calcification and their blood samples were collected for OPG measurement. This study is analyzed with Spearman's correlation test. The mean of OPG serum level in this study was 5.89 ± 2.1 pmol/L for moderate-risk Framingham risk score (FRS) and the mean of OPG serum level for high-risk FRS was 7.27 ± 3.4. There was a positive, moderate, and significant correlation between OPG serum level and coronary calcification using CAC score in patient with moderate–severe CV risk factor (r = 0.694; p < 0.001).


2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasudha Ahuja ◽  
Katsuyuki Miura ◽  
Abhishek Vishnu ◽  
Akira Fujiyoshi ◽  
Rhobert Evans ◽  
...  

AbstractEquol, a metabolite of the dietary isoflavone daidzein, is produced by the action of gut bacteria in some individuals who are termed as equol-producers. It is proposed to have stronger atheroprotective properties than dietary isoflavones. We examined a cross-sectional association of dietary isoflavones and equol-producer status with coronary artery calcification (CAC), a biomarker of coronary atherosclerosis, among men in Japan. A population-based sample of 272 Japanese men aged 40–49 years recruited from 2004 to 2007 was examined for serum isoflavones, serum equol, CAC and other factors. Equol-producers were classified as individuals having a serum level of equol >83 nm. The presence of CAC was defined as a coronary Ca score ≥10 Agatston units. The associations of dietary isoflavones and equol-producers with CAC were analysed using multiple logistic regression. The median of dietary isoflavones, equol and CAC were 512·7 (interquartile range (IQR) 194·1, 1170·0), 9·1 (IQR 0·10, 33·1) and 0·0 (IQR 0·0, 1·0) nm, respectively. Prevalence of CAC and equol-producers was 9·6 and 16·0 %, respectively. Dietary isoflavones were not significantly associated with CAC. After multivariable adjustment, the OR for the presence of CAC in equol-producers compared with equol non-producers was 0·10 (95 % CI 0·01, 0·90, P<0·04). Equol-producers had significantly lower CAC than equol non-producers, but there was no significant association between dietary isoflavones and CAC, suggesting that equol may be a key factor for atheroprotective properties of isoflavones in Japanese men. This finding must be confirmed in larger studies or clinical trials of equol that is now available as a dietary supplement.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Vassara ◽  
S Siwamogsatham ◽  
W Buddhari ◽  
M Tumkosit ◽  
C Ketloy ◽  
...  

Abstract Background and objectives Patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection live longer and the prevalence of coronary heart disease is increasing among them. High-sensitive troponin I (hs-TnI) is associated with coronary artery calcification as determined by non-contrast cardiac computed tomography (CT) in general population without established cardiovascular disease (CVD). Nevertheless, the relationship in well-controlled HIV-infected patients has not been validated. Design and methods A cross-sectional study among HIV-infected adults aged >50 years free from known CVDs. All subjects underwent non-contrast cardiac CT and blood test for serum hs-TnI was concomitantly performed. Relationship between Agatston score, a parameter used to quantify coronary artery calcification and serum hs-TnI level was analysed using spearman correlation and logistic regression models. Results A total of 338 HIV-infected adults (median age 54 years, 62% men) were included. All of them were in antiretroviral therapy with a median 18 years of exposure. The median CD4 cell count was 614 cell/mm3, 98% were virologically suppressed. Hs-TnI was correlated with coronary artery calcification with the correlation coefficient of 0.287 (p<0.0001). Multivariated logistic regression analysis demonstrated that serum hs-TnI concentration was associated with an increased odd of coronary artery calcification (Agatston score>0) (OR 1.64; 95% CI, 1.05–2.56, p=0.029). To detect coronary artery calcification, using the hs-TnI in addition to Thai CV risk score slightly increased the ROCAUC from 0.6827 to 0.692 (p=0.45). Distribution of CAC score over hs-TnI Conclusion Among well-controlled HIV-infected patients without established CVDs, hs-TnI concentration was associated with coronary artery calcification. This could be a potential biomarker for an early risk stratification of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis in this population. The association with long-term adverse cardiovascular outcome needs to be validated in the future study.


10.2196/23049 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. e23049
Author(s):  
Dong Wook Kim ◽  
Kyung Won Kim ◽  
Yousun Ko ◽  
Taeyong Park ◽  
Seungwoo Khang ◽  
...  

Background Muscle quality is associated with fatty degeneration or infiltration of the muscle, which may be associated with decreased muscle function and increased disability. Objective The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of automated quantitative measurements of the skeletal muscle on computed tomography (CT) images to assess normal-attenuation muscle and myosteatosis. Methods We developed a web-based toolkit to generate a muscle quality map by categorizing muscle components. First, automatic segmentation of the total abdominal muscle area (TAMA), visceral fat area, and subcutaneous fat area was performed using a predeveloped deep learning model on a single axial CT image at the L3 vertebral level. Second, the Hounsfield unit of each pixel in the TAMA was measured and categorized into 3 components: normal-attenuation muscle area (NAMA), low-attenuation muscle area (LAMA), and inter/intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) area. The myosteatosis area was derived by adding the LAMA and IMAT area. We tested the feasibility of the toolkit using randomly selected healthy participants, comprising 6 different age groups (20 to 79 years). With stratification by sex, these indices were compared between age groups using 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Correlations between the myosteatosis area or muscle densities and fat areas were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient r. Results A total of 240 healthy participants (135 men and 105 women) with 40 participants per age group were included in the study. In the 1-way ANOVA, the NAMA, LAMA, and IMAT were significantly different between the age groups in both male and female participants (P≤.004), whereas the TAMA showed a significant difference only in male participants (male, P<.001; female, P=.88). The myosteatosis area had a strong negative correlation with muscle densities (r=–0.833 to –0.894), a moderate positive correlation with visceral fat areas (r=0.607 to 0.669), and a weak positive correlation with the subcutaneous fat areas (r=0.305 to 0.441). Conclusions The automated web-based toolkit is feasible and enables quantitative CT assessment of myosteatosis, which can be a potential quantitative biomarker for evaluating structural and functional changes brought on by aging in the skeletal muscle.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong Wook Kim ◽  
Kyung Won Kim ◽  
Yousun Ko ◽  
Taeyong Park ◽  
Seungwoo Khang ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND Muscle quality is associated with fatty degeneration or infiltration of the muscle, which may be associated with decreased muscle function and increased disability. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of automated quantitative measurements of the skeletal muscle on computed tomography (CT) images to assess normal-attenuation muscle and myosteatosis. METHODS We developed a web-based toolkit to generate a muscle quality map by categorizing muscle components. First, automatic segmentation of the total abdominal muscle area (TAMA), visceral fat area, and subcutaneous fat area was performed using a predeveloped deep learning model on a single axial CT image at the L3 vertebral level. Second, the Hounsfield unit of each pixel in the TAMA was measured and categorized into 3 components: normal-attenuation muscle area (NAMA), low-attenuation muscle area (LAMA), and inter/intramuscular adipose tissue (IMAT) area. The myosteatosis area was derived by adding the LAMA and IMAT area. We tested the feasibility of the toolkit using randomly selected healthy participants, comprising 6 different age groups (20 to 79 years). With stratification by sex, these indices were compared between age groups using 1-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Correlations between the myosteatosis area or muscle densities and fat areas were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient r. RESULTS A total of 240 healthy participants (135 men and 105 women) with 40 participants per age group were included in the study. In the 1-way ANOVA, the NAMA, LAMA, and IMAT were significantly different between the age groups in both male and female participants (<i>P</i>≤.004), whereas the TAMA showed a significant difference only in male participants (male, <i>P</i>&lt;.001; female, <i>P</i>=.88). The myosteatosis area had a strong negative correlation with muscle densities (<i>r</i>=–0.833 to –0.894), a moderate positive correlation with visceral fat areas (<i>r</i>=0.607 to 0.669), and a weak positive correlation with the subcutaneous fat areas (<i>r</i>=0.305 to 0.441). CONCLUSIONS The automated web-based toolkit is feasible and enables quantitative CT assessment of myosteatosis, which can be a potential quantitative biomarker for evaluating structural and functional changes brought on by aging in the skeletal muscle. CLINICALTRIAL


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