Neural Correlates of Stress and Abdominal Obesity in Patients With Coronary Artery Disease

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Kasra Moazzami, Emory University; Matthew T Wittbrodt, Emory University; Bruno B Lima, Emory University; Oleksiy Levantsevych, Emory University; Belal Kaseer, Emory University; Afif Martini, Emory University; Ammer Haffar, Emory University; Jonathon Nye, Emory University; Arshed Quyyumi, Emory University; Amit Shah, Emory University; Laura Vaccarino, Emory University; James Bremner, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-04-01
• Publisher: LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2019 by the American Psychosomatic Society
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000776
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE
• Volume: 82
• Issue: 3
• Start Page: 272
• End Page: 280
• Grant/Funding Information: This study was supported by NIH research grants P01 HL101398, HL088726, MH076955, MH067547-01, MH56120, RR016917, HL077506, HL068630, HL109413, HL125246, and HL127251.
• Keywords: Psychology; PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS; PHYSICAL-ACTIVITY; Psychiatry; CHILDHOOD SEXUAL-ABUSE; WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE; LIFE-STYLE; FOOD CRAVINGS; RISK; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; WEIGHT; mental stress; Science & Technology; Social Sciences; HEART-DISEASE; coronary artery disease; body mass index; WOMEN; Psychology, Multidisciplinary; waist circumference

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to investigate the relationship between waist circumference as a measure of abdominal obesity and brain responses to stress among patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). Methods Patients with CAD (N = 151) underwent acute mental stress tasks in conjunction with high-resolution positron emission tomography and radiolabeled water imaging of the brain. Brain responses to mental stress were correlated with waist circumference. Results Waist circumference was positively correlated with increased activation in the right and left frontal lobes (β values ranging from 2.81 to 3.75 in the paracentral, medial, and superior gyri), left temporal lobe, left hippocampal, left amygdala, left uncus, and left anterior and posterior cingulate gyri (β values ranging from 2.93 to 3.55). Waist circumference was also negatively associated with the left and right parietal lobes, right superior temporal gyrus, and right insula and precuneus (β values ranging from 2.82 to 5.20). Conclusion Increased brain activation in the brain regions involved in the stress response and autonomic regulation of the cardiovascular system during psychological stress may underlie stress-induced overeating and abdominal obesity in patients with CAD.