Lower Visceral and Subcutaneous but Higher Intermuscular Adipose Tissue Depots in Patients with Growth Hormone and Insulin-like Growth Factor I Excess Due to Acromegaly

Context: GH and IGF-I are important regulators of metabolism and body composition. In acromegaly, a state of GH and IGF-I excess, the lipolytic and insulin antagonistic effects of GH may alter adipose tissue (AT) distribution.

Objectives: Our objective was to test the hypothesis that in acromegaly whole-body AT mass is less and to examine for the first time the relationship between GH/IGF-I excess and intermuscular AT (IMAT), an AT depot associated with insulin resistance in other populations.

Design, Setting, And Patients: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 24 adults with active acromegaly compared with predicted models developed in 315 healthy non-acromegaly subjects.

Outcome Measures: Mass of AT in the visceral AT (VAT), sc AT (SAT), and IMAT compartments from whole-body magnetic resonance imaging and serum levels of GH, IGF-I, insulin, and glucose were measured.

Results: VAT and SAT were less in active acromegaly (P < 0.0001); these were 68.2 +/- 27% and 79.5 +/- 15% of predicted values, respectively. By contrast, IMAT was greater (P = 0.0052) by 185.6 +/- 84% of predicted. VAT/trunk AT ratios were inversely related to IGF-I levels (r = 0.544; P = 0.0054). Acromegaly subjects were insulin resistant.

Conclusions: VAT and SAT, most markedly VAT, are less in acromegaly. The proportion of trunk AT that is VAT is less with greater disease activity. IMAT is greater in acromegaly, a novel finding, which suggests that increased AT in muscle could be associated with GH-induced insulin resistance. These findings have implications for understanding the role of GH in body composition and metabolic risk in acromegaly and other clinical settings of GH use.