The relationship of body mass and fat distribution with incident hypertension: observations from the Dallas Heart Study.

Background: Obesity has been linked to the development of hypertension, but whether total adiposity or site-specific fat accumulation underpins this relationship is unclear.

Objectives: This study sought to determine the relationship between adipose tissue distribution and incident hypertension.

Methods: Normotensive participants enrolled in the Dallas Heart Study were followed for a median of 7 years for the development of hypertension (systolic blood pressure [SBP] ≥140 mm Hg, diastolic blood pressure ≥90 mm Hg, or initiation of blood pressure medications). Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) was quantified by magnetic resonance imaging and proton-spectroscopic imaging, and lower body fat (LBF) was imaged by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry. Multivariable relative risk regression was performed to test the association between individual fat depots and incident hypertension, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, diabetes, smoking, SBP, and body mass index (BMI).

Results: Among 903 participants (median age, 40 years; 57% women; 60% nonwhite; median BMI 27.5 kg/m(2)), 230 (25%) developed incident hypertension. In multivariable analyses, higher BMI was significantly associated with incident hypertension (relative risk: 1.24; 95% confidence interval: 1.12 to 1.36, per 1-SD increase). However, when VAT, SAT, and LBF were added to the model, only VAT remained independently associated with incident hypertension (relative risk: 1.22; 95% confidence interval: 1.06 to 1.39, per 1-SD increase).

Conclusions: Increased visceral adiposity, but not total or subcutaneous adiposity, was robustly associated with incident hypertension. Additional studies will be needed to elucidate the mechanisms behind this association.