Epicardial and Intra-Thoracic Adipose Tissue and Cardiovascular Calcifications in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) in Epidemiology of Diabetes Interventions and Complications (EDIC): A Pilot Study

Objective Coronary artery, aortic valve, and descending aorta calcification (CAC, AVC, DAC) are manifestations of atherosclerosis, and cardiac epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) indicates heart adiposity. This study explored the association between cardiac adipose tissue and cardiovascular calcification in participants with long-standing T1D. Methods EAT and intra-thoracic adipose tissue (IAT) were measured in 100 T1D subjects with cardiac computed tomography (CT) scans in the EDIC study. Volume analysis software was used to measure fat volumes. Spearman correlations were calculated between CAC, AVC, DAC with EAT, and IAT. Associations were evaluated using multiple linear and logistic regression models. Results Participants ranged in age from 32-57. Mean EAT, and IAT were 38.5 and 50.8 mm3, respectively, and the prevalence of CAC, AVC, and DAC was 43.6%, 4.7%, and 26.8%, respectively. CAC was positively correlated with age (p-value = 0.0001) and EAT (p-value = 0.0149) but not with AVC and DAC; IAT was not associated with calcified lesions. In models adjusted for age and sex, higher levels of EAT and IAT were associated with higher CAC (p-value < 0.0001 for both) and higher AVC (p-values of 0.0111 and 0.0053, respectively), but not with DAC. The associations with CAC remained significant (p < 0.0001) after further adjustment for smoking, systolic blood pressure, BMI, and LDL, while the associations with AVC did not remain significant. Conclusion In participants with T1D, higher EAT and IAT levels are correlated with higher CAC scores. EAT and IAT were not independently correlated with DAC or AVC.