Shared, Sex-Specific Body Fat Patterns Linked to Cardiovascular Aging

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 27, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Shared and sex-specific patterns of body fat are associated with changes in cardiovascular aging, according to a study published online Aug. 22 in the European Heart Journal.

Vladimir Losev, Ph.D., from Imperial College London, and colleagues examined the influence of sex-dependent fat phenotypes on human cardiovascular aging using data from 21,241 participants in the U.K. Biobank. Cardiovascular age was predicted from 126 image-derived traits of vascular function, cardiac motion, and myocardial fibrosis using machine learning; an age-delta was calculated as the difference between predicted and chronological age. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess the association between fat phenotypes and cardiovascular age-delta with age and sex as covariates.

The researchers found that for both sexes, the strongest predictors of increased cardiovascular age-delta were visceral adipose tissue volume, muscle adipose tissue infiltration, and liver fat fraction (β = 0.656, 0.183, and 1.066, respectively). In men only, abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue volume and android fat mass were associated with increased age-delta (β = 0.432 and 0.983, respectively). There was an association for genetically predicted gynoid fat with decreased age-delta.

“We have known about the apple and pear distinction in body fat, but it hasn”t been clear how it leads to poor health outcomes,” lead author Declan P. O”Regan, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., also from Imperial College London, said in a statement. “Our research shows that “bad” fat, hidden deep around the organs, accelerates aging of the heart. But some types of fat could protect against aging — specifically fat around the hips and thighs in women.”

One author disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

Abstract/Full Text