Changes in aortic diameter induced by weight loss: The HELENA trial- whole-body MR imaging in a dietary intervention trial

Obesity-related metabolic disorders such as hypertension, hyperlipidemia and chronic inflammation have been associated with aortic dilatation and resulting in aortic aneurysms in many cases. Whether weight loss may reduce the risk of aortic dilatation is not clear. In this study, the diameter of the descending thoracic aorta, infrarenal abdominal aorta and aortic bifurcation of 144 overweight or obese non-smoking adults were measured by MR-imaging, at baseline, and 12 and 50 weeks after weight loss by calorie restriction. Changes in aortic diameter, anthropometric measures and body composition and metabolic markers were evaluated using linear mixed models. The association of the aortic diameters with the aforementioned clinical parameters was analyzed using Spearman`s correlation. Weight loss was associated with a reduction in the thoracic and abdominal aortic diameters 12 weeks after weight loss (predicted relative differences for Quartile 4: 2.5% ± 0.5 and -2.2% ± 0.8, p < 0.031; respectively). Furthermore, there was a nominal reduction in aortic diameters during the 50-weeks follow-up period. Aortic diameters were positively associated with weight, visceral adipose tissue, glucose, HbA1c and with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Weight loss induced by calorie restriction may reduce aortic diameters. Future studies are needed to investigate, whether the reduction of aortic diameters via calorie restriction may help to prevent aortic aneurysms.