Changes in Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Thickness Associate with Disease and Anthropometric Factors

Changes in Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Thickness Associate with Disease and Anthropometric Factors | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Changes in Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Thickness Associate with Disease and Anthropometric Factors Marjola Thanaj, Nicolas Basty, Madeleine Cule, Elena Sorokin, and 4 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6014653/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in International Journal of Obesity → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background : Quantifying abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) thickness may give new insights into phenotypic variations underlying metabolic diseases including obesity and type 2 diabetes. Methods : We used morphometric methods to study the ASAT in the abdominal UK Biobank MRI data from 44,515 participants who underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans at the first imaging visit and a subcohort of 3,088 underwent a second scan after two years. We quantified the ASAT thickness from three dimensional surface meshes and used statistical parametric maps to assess the regional associations with anthropometric traits and disease conditions, including type-2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension. The principal component scores of the ASAT thickness were also used to evaluate future risk of disease, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). Results : We found that age, alcohol intake and other lifestyle factors, visceral fat, total muscle, and health traits were significantly associated with ASAT thickness. Significant changes in ASAT thickness were observed in both men and women at the second imaging visit after approximately two and a half years; however, the presence of disease at the first visit did not have an additional impact on these changes in either gender. Notably, we identified significant associations between variations in ASAT thickness across the hips compared to abdominal fat and the incidence of CVD in women (hazard ratio (HR): 0.90, 95% CI: 0.84-0.97, p=0.023) as well as hypertension in both genders (HR: 1.10, 95% CI: 1.03-1.21, p=0.045 in women; HR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.82-0.96, p=0.014 in men). Conclusions : Analysis of ASAT thickness can enhance the understanding of pathologies associated with chronic conditions. Health sciences/Risk factors Health sciences/Diseases/Cardiovascular diseases Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Thickness Visceral Adipose Tissue Statistical Parametric Maps Hypertension Type-2 Diabetes Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Full Text Additional Declarations Yes there is potential conflict of interest. Supplementary Files asatmodesall.gif Video S1 TablesMT.pdf SupplementaryMaterialMT.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 09 Jul, 2025 Read the published version in International Journal of Obesity → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: revise 03 Apr, 2025 Review # 2 received at journal 18 Mar, 2025 Review # 1 received at journal 17 Mar, 2025 Reviewer # 2 agreed at journal 03 Mar, 2025 Reviewer # 1 agreed at journal 28 Feb, 2025 Reviewers invited by journal 28 Feb, 2025 Submission checks completed at journal 18 Feb, 2025 First submitted to journal 17 Feb, 2025 Unknown event 13 Feb, 2025 Editor assigned by journal 12 Feb, 2025 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6014653","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":422542186,"identity":"639fb731-ff52-4c44-9875-f7aef1d7dff4","order_by":0,"name":"Marjola Thanaj","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABE0lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYHACNhDBzA/hSCBJ8ODSwQzRItkAJA+AtLARqYXB4ABYCwNhLboN/Mce/Nxhx258I/nw5485Fnny85uPfWCosWMwOHMAqxazA8zshr1nkpnNbqSlSRzcJlFscIwteQbDsWQGg7MNuLSwSfC2MTOb3c4xYwBqSdzAxmMMdN0BBoPz2B0G0iL5t62e2Xh2/ucPIC3z2/g/MzD8w69FmrftMLOBdA4DyGGJDcd4mBkY2w7gdthhZjNp2bbjzBL3n5lJnAU57FiaMUNiXzKPJC7vH298Jvm2rTqZv+fw4w+V2+oS5zcffszw4ZudHN+ZBOwuY4ZQyaiiCXgiEgbsCCkYBaNgFIyCEQwAuU5ZwQDa2RQAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Westminster","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marjola","middleName":"","lastName":"Thanaj","suffix":""},{"id":422542187,"identity":"e826faa9-dcf6-45ae-9dec-a53a15e426cf","order_by":1,"name":"Nicolas Basty","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Westminster","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nicolas","middleName":"","lastName":"Basty","suffix":""},{"id":422542188,"identity":"682e56ad-beb0-4ffd-8bf5-b440ed827ceb","order_by":2,"name":"Madeleine Cule","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Madeleine","middleName":"","lastName":"Cule","suffix":""},{"id":422542189,"identity":"0ff8f615-a41d-4093-93e3-e71fffa92b58","order_by":3,"name":"Elena Sorokin","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Elena","middleName":"","lastName":"Sorokin","suffix":""},{"id":422542190,"identity":"27aad1a5-eea2-4b98-8cee-b5c907dd3853","order_by":4,"name":"Brandon Whitcher","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Westminster","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Brandon","middleName":"","lastName":"Whitcher","suffix":""},{"id":422542191,"identity":"ac1e9e16-4bed-4555-adea-0b046022a678","order_by":5,"name":"Ramprakash Srinivasan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ramprakash","middleName":"","lastName":"Srinivasan","suffix":""},{"id":422542192,"identity":"1613d413-d399-4195-8d68-a3482848179f","order_by":6,"name":"Jimmy Bell","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Westminster","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jimmy","middleName":"","lastName":"Bell","suffix":""},{"id":422542193,"identity":"e524d388-c985-4876-88a9-2ecc2066d141","order_by":7,"name":"E. Louise Thomas","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4235-4694","institution":"University of Westminster","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"E.","middleName":"Louise","lastName":"Thomas","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-02-12 11:15:09","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6014653/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6014653/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41366-025-01829-y","type":"published","date":"2025-07-09T04:00:00+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":78339452,"identity":"fae3aeca-55c9-43f5-9ee1-076cfc8c78fb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:27:28","extension":"png","order_by":1,"title":"Figure 1","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":1886861,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThree-dimensional statistical parametric maps (SPMs) of ASAT morphology, projections are anterior (left plots) and posterior views (right plots). The SPMs show the local strength of association for each covariate in the model with ASAT thickness for female participants (N=19,418). White contour lines indicate the boundary between statistically significant regions (p \u0026lt; 0.05) after correction for multiple testing, with positive associations in bright red and negative associations in bright blue. The standardised regression coefficients (𝛽^) are shown with units in standard deviations for each covariate.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"fig1.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/5cc3231e2cf490f95ba34200.png"},{"id":78341428,"identity":"32c4de1c-6f5f-4404-969e-75bf3deaa000","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:43:28","extension":"png","order_by":2,"title":"Figure 2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":2013067,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThree-dimensional statistical parametric maps (SPMs) of ASAT morphology, projections are anterior (left plots) and posterior views (right plots). The SPMs show the local strength of association for each covariate in the model with ASAT thickness for male participants (N=18,470). White contour lines indicate the boundary between statistically significant regions (p \u0026lt; 0.05) after correction for multiple testing, with positive associations in bright red and negative associations in bright blue. The standardised regression coefficients (𝛽^) are shown with units in standard deviations for each covariate.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"fig2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/78d868e3b5975573e63a151a.png"},{"id":78339454,"identity":"6cc74178-694d-43ae-a1e2-263e8075fc7b","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:27:28","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":424478,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eThree-dimensional statistical parametric maps (SPMs) of ASAT morphology, projections are anterior (left plots) and posterior views (right plots). The SPMs show the local strength of association of ASAT thickness and the imaging visit for the male (N=1,186) and female participants (N=1,200). White contour lines indicate the boundary between statistically significant regions (p \u0026lt; 0.05) after correction for multiple testing, with positive associations in bright red and negative associations in bright blue. The standardised regression coefficients (𝛽^) are shown with units in standard deviations for each covariate.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"fig3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/cfaa649d0e248536663b5488.png"},{"id":78341429,"identity":"6364b62a-d4c9-422c-bbb9-fa9e2f3ed169","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:43:28","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":502227,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eHazard ratios and 95% CIs for CVD and hypertension outcomes for the female participants, adjusted for age, ethnicity, height, grip strength in the dominant hand, Townsend deprivation index, alcohol intake frequency, smoking status, vigorous MET, VAT volume, and the first four PC scores of the ASAT thickness. Statistically significant associations (p \u0026lt; 0.05) are shown in red. The PCs are visualised below the hazard ratios, showing the minimum and maximum deviations from the average female ASAT thickness mapped onto the average female shape.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"fig4if.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/e3377f968de781b1ce4c8839.png"},{"id":78341430,"identity":"7ea8914e-0789-485f-8e3e-e2d64a879b8e","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:43:28","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":899542,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eHazard ratios and 95% CIs for CVD and hypertension outcomes for the male participants, adjusted for age, ethnicity, height, grip strength in the dominant hand, Townsend deprivation index, alcohol intake frequency, smoking status, vigorous MET, VAT volume, and the first four PC scores of the ASAT thickness. Statistically significant associations (p \u0026lt; 0.05) are shown in red. The PCs are visualised below the hazard ratios, showing the minimum and maximum deviations from the average male ASAT thickness mapped on to the average male shape.\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"fig4iim.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/e52f6a3dd90a4b344244dde3.png"},{"id":86402759,"identity":"49283d8e-14f5-4c85-bf30-29eff2d03f9f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-07-10 09:12:14","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1081222,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"MainManuscriptMT.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1_covered_dfa5d1c0-3b8f-4bad-b46a-f5fa17ffec3e.pdf"},{"id":78339453,"identity":"7b92b69c-8129-4f94-bc34-a01974a38599","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:27:28","extension":"gif","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":1456266,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Video S1","description":"","filename":"asatmodesall.gif","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/01a4808b6c1e0b459a44c7ff.gif"},{"id":78339457,"identity":"d0fe27fe-4b10-4064-8e7e-4985234711b0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:27:28","extension":"pdf","order_by":2,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":163994,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"TablesMT.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/de258e66dd032d4b63158fa9.pdf"},{"id":78339784,"identity":"8b7ae7e6-a510-4765-b85f-281c83a163c8","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-12 08:35:28","extension":"docx","order_by":3,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":5251243,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"SupplementaryMaterialMT.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6014653/v1/c3d14579dd85cf7276607f0b.docx"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cb\u003eYes\u003c/b\u003e there is potential conflict of interest.","formattedTitle":"Changes in Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Thickness Associate with Disease and Anthropometric Factors","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"international-journal-of-obesity","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"ijo","sideBox":"Learn more about [International Journal of Obesity](http://www.nature.com/ijo/)","snPcode":"41366","submissionUrl":"https://mts-ijo.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex","title":"International Journal of Obesity","twitterHandle":"@intjobesity","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"Nature AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"Abdominal Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue Thickness, Visceral Adipose Tissue, Statistical Parametric Maps, Hypertension, Type-2 Diabetes","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6014653/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6014653/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e: Quantifying abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) thickness may give new insights into phenotypic variations underlying metabolic diseases including obesity and type 2 diabetes.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e: We used morphometric methods to study the ASAT in the abdominal UK Biobank MRI data from 44,515 participants who underwent magnetic resonance imaging scans at the first imaging visit and a subcohort of 3,088 underwent a second scan after two years. We quantified the ASAT thickness from three dimensional surface meshes and used statistical parametric maps to assess the regional associations with anthropometric traits and disease conditions, including type-2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension. The principal component scores of the ASAT thickness were also used to evaluate future risk of disease, including cardiovascular disease (CVD).\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eResults\u003c/strong\u003e: We found that age, alcohol intake and other lifestyle factors, visceral fat, total muscle, and health traits were significantly associated with ASAT thickness. Significant changes in ASAT thickness were observed in both men and women at the second imaging visit after approximately two and a half years; however, the presence of disease at the first visit did not have an additional impact on these changes in either gender. 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