Is Obesity a Risk Factor for Carotid Atherosclerotic Disease?-Opportunistic Review

Joana Ferreira; Pedro Cunha; Alexandre Carneiro; Isabel Vila; Cristina Cunha; Cristina Silva; Adhemar Longatto-Filho; Amílcar Mesquita; Jorge Cotter; Margarida Correia-Neves; Armando Mansilha

doi:10.3390/jcdd9050162

Is Obesity a Risk Factor for Carotid Atherosclerotic Disease?-Opportunistic Review

J Cardiovasc Dev Dis. 2022 May 17;9(5):162. doi: 10.3390/jcdd9050162.

Authors

Joana Ferreira^{1

2

3}, Pedro Cunha^{2

3

4}, Alexandre Carneiro⁵, Isabel Vila^{2

3

4}, Cristina Cunha^{2

3

4}, Cristina Silva^{2

3

4}, Adhemar Longatto-Filho^{2

4

6

7}, Amílcar Mesquita⁸, Jorge Cotter^{2

3

4}, Margarida Correia-Neves², Armando Mansilha^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ Vascular Surgery Department, Hospital de Trás-os-Montes, 5000-508 Vila Real, Portugal.
² Life and Health Science Research Institute (ICVS), School of Medicine, University of Minho, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
³ Center for the Research and Treatment of Arterial Hypertension and Cardiovascular Risk, Internal Medicine Department, Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira, 4835-044 Guimarães, Portugal.
⁴ Medicine Department, Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira, 4835-044 Guimarães, Portugal.
⁵ Radiology Department, Unidade Local de Saúde Alto Minho, 4904-858 Viana do Castelo, Portugal.
⁶ Department of Pathology (LIM-14), University of São Paulo School of Medicine, São Paulo 01246-903, Brazil.
⁷ Molecular Oncology Research Center, Barretos Cancer Hospital, São Paulo 14784-400, Brazil.
⁸ Vascular Surgery Department, Hospital da Senhora da Oliveira, 4835-044 Guimarães, Portugal.
⁹ Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.
¹⁰ Vascular Surgery Department, Hospital de São João, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal.

Abstract

Obesity is a risk factor for coronary atherosclerosis. However, the influence of adipose tissue in carotid atherosclerosis is not completely understood. No systematic review/meta-analysis was previously performed to understand if obesity is a risk factor for carotid atherosclerosis. This paper aims to provide an opportunistic review of the association between obesity and carotid atherosclerosis and define the role of the different adipose tissue depots in the characteristics of carotid stenosis. The databases PubMed and Cochrane Library were searched on 15-27 April and 19 May 2021. A total of 1750 articles published between 1985 and 2019 were identified, 64 were preselected, and 38 papers (35,339 subjects) were included in the final review. The most frequent methods used to determine obesity were anthropometric measures. Carotid plaque was mostly characterized by ultrasound. Overall obesity and visceral fat were not associated with the presence of carotid plaque when evaluated separately. Waist-hip ratio, however, was a significant anthropometric measure associated with the prevalence of carotid plaques. As it reflected the ratio of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue, the balance between these depots could impact the prevalence of carotid plaques.

Keywords: carotid atherosclerotic disease; obesity; subcutaneous adipose tissue; visceral adipose tissue.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Portuguese Society of Vascular Surgery. This work was developed under the scope of project NORTE-01-0145-FEDER- 000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) under the Portugal Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and by National funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)—project UIDB/50026/2020 and UIDP/50026/2020.