Kathryn A. Britton, MD

JAHA: Tell us about the key findings from your recent article in JAHA.

Dr. Britton: Thoracic periaortic adipose tissue (TAT) is a type of ectopic fat that surrounds the aorta, and has been postulated to have a local toxic effect on the vasculature.  We examined categories of individuals discordant for periaortic and visceral fat in order to better understand the potential specificity of the association of different fat depots with cardiometabolic risk factors.  We found that high TAT was uniquely associated with a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease, smoking, and low-HDL.

JAHA: What are the major implications of this work?

Dr. Britton: Our findings suggest that individuals with high TAT, even in the absence of high VAT, are characterized by a uniquely adverse cardiometabolic profile.

JAHA: How did you get the idea to do this study?

Dr. Britton: We were interested in establishing the unique risk factor correlates of high thoracic periaortic fat. 

JAHA: What was your biggest obstacle in completing this study?

Dr. Britton: Thoracic periaortic and visceral fat are highly correlated which makes it more challenging to disentangle the specific associations of TAT versus visceral fat with cardiometabolic risk factors.  Thus, we specifically looked at discordant categories to better capture the unique associations of high TAT versus high visceral fat. 

JAHA: What was your most unexpected finding?

Dr. Britton: We were surprised and intrigued to find that men with high thoracic periaortic fat in the absence of high VAT had a higher prevalence of current smoking.  This finding, taken in conjunction with previous findings that thoracic periaortic fat is associated with peripheral artery disease (for which smoking is a major risk factor) and that smoking appears to influence the biology of adipose tissue, will be interesting to pursue in further experimental and observational studies. 

JAHA: What do you plan to do next, based on these current findings?

Dr. Britton: We are interested in looking at changes in TAT over time since many of the individuals in this study are undergoing follow-up CT scans six years later.  In addition, we are interested in examining the association of TAT with other manifestations of cardiovascular disease.  We are also interesting in performing prospective studies examining the association of TAT with different health outcomes over time. 

JAHA: What do you like to do in your free time?

Dr. Britton: I enjoy spending time with my family and friends, and especially enjoy outdoor activities, such as running, walking, and cross-country skiing.  I also enjoy traveling and most recently spent two weeks in Turkey. 

JAHA: What is your favorite sports team or musical group?

Dr. Britton: Although I have lived in Boston for the past 10 years, I was born and raised in New York, and am a longstanding NY Yankee fan. 

To read Dr. Britton's full article, click here

Profile originally published February 5, 2013