Adipose Tissue Distribution Differentially Affects Muscular Strength In Men And Women

Background It is known that adipose tissue independently adversely affects muscular strength and power in community dwelling older men and women. However, there is a lack of information on the relationship between the distribution pattern (android vs. gynoid) of the adipose tissue with muscle strength in older populations. Furthermore, whether these relationships are affected by sex is unknown. Purpose To investigate if android by gynoid adiposity ratio differentially predicts muscular strength in community dwelling older men vs. women. Methods Men (n = 27), and women (n = 33 participated in our cross-sectional study. Android by gynoid adiposity ratio, was assessed by a single scan of the total body dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. CV% for android by gynoid fat ratio is <2% in our laboratory. We used 1 repetition maximum testing for the leg press, right and left hip abduction muscle strength. Muscle strength values were normalized for body weight. All participants underwent a warm up and familiarization session before any muscle strength testing. Muscle strength values were normalized for body weight. All the data was checked for normality. We ran t-tests and bivariate correlations for all the statistical analysis. Results An independent sample t-test found that muscle strength (leg press, right and left hip abduction) was lower as was android by gynoid adiposity ratio, (p < 0.05) in women vs. men. Only in women, android by gynoid adiposity ratio was negatively related to leg press (r = -.469, p = 0.006), left abduction (r = -.594, p < 0.001), and right abduction (r = -.606, p < 0.001) muscle strength. No relationships were found in men. CONCLUSION: Menopause induced changes in estrogen and follicle stimulating hormone can explain both the prefential shift in android adiposity and decreased muscle strength in women. Thus, greater android by gynoid adiposity ratio may be specifically deleterious of decreased musclar strength in women only. Whether our findings can be translated into clinical settings need to be investigated. For example, whether the waist hip ratio could be a prognostic indicator of muscle strength in older women needs to be examined.