High LPL Activity and Adipocyte Hypertrophy Reduce Visceral Fat and Metabolic Risk in Obese, Older Women

OBJECTIVE: To determine if higher subcutaneous adipose tissue lipoprotein lipase activity (AT-LPLA) is associated with greater triglyceride (TG) storage in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), thereby reducing visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation and metabolic dysfunction. DESIGN AND METHOD: Obese postmenopausal women (60±1 yrs; mean±SEM; N=101) had body composition by DXA and CT, fat aspirations for fat-cell weight (FCW) and AT-LPLA. Women were ranked by visceral to total abdominal fat ratio (VAT/TAF), and the lowest and highest groups (n=24) matched for % fat and age. RESULTS: The prevalence of metabolic dysfunction was 7–10 fold higher in women with high VAT/TAF (P’s<0.01). Women with low VAT/TAF had 11% and 6% lower abdominal and gluteal FCWs, but 28% and 54% higher AT-LPLA/10(6) cells in abdominal and gluteal fat, respectively. Abdominal FCW correlated with AT-LPLA in women with low (r=0.63, P<0.01), but not high (r=0.14, P=0.52) VAT/TAF, and these lines differed in slope (P<0.05) and intercept (P<0.01), suggesting greater capacity for TG storage with low VAT/TAF. There were no relationships between gluteal FCW and AT-LPLA. The relationship between SAT and abdominal AT-LPLA (r=0.39, P<0.01) suggests that higher AT-LPLA promotes TG storage. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that higher AT-LPLA is associated with SAT adipocyte hypertrophy, which reduces visceral adiposity and metabolic risk in obese, older women.