Sardinha, Luis Fernando Cordeiro BettencourtRocha, Paulo Manuel Espadinha Pinheiro da2008-12-292008-12-292007-02-16http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/483Tese de Doutoramento em Motricidade Humana na especialidade de Saúde e Condição FísicaThis thesis sought to analyze the relationships between body composition markers and metabolic syndrome features in overweight and obese women, being structured in three scientific problems. The first scientific problem investigated the separate contributions of waist and hip circumference to proinflammatory and atherothrombotic metabolic syndrome disturbances. Associations of thigh adipose and muscle tissue compartments with metabolic features were also studied. For a given waist circumference, a larger hip circumference predicted a lower diabetogenic and atherothrombotic risk. Femoral-gluteal adipose tissue seems to mediate this protective role. The second problem studied the independent associations of abdominal and thigh adipose tissue compartments with metabolic syndrome clinical features. Contrarily to visceral adipose tissue, a larger thigh subcutaneous adipose tissue was related with a lower thrombotic and atherogenic risk. The last problem analyzed the independent relations of abdominal and thigh adipose tissue compartments with liver fat. The associations of proinflammatory and atherothrombotic risk factors with liver fat were also studied. Thigh subfascial adipose tissue was inversely associated with liver fat, suggesting that this thigh fat depot may play a protective role against ectopic liver fat storage. An abdominal obesity phenotype associated with a diabetogenic, inflammatory, and atherothrombotic metabolic profile may to contribute to liver lipotoxicity.engAdipose tissueBody compositionCardiovascular diseaseMetabolic syndromeObesityRisk factorsComposição corporalDoenças cardiovascularesFactores de riscoObesidadeSíndrome metabólicaTecido adiposodoctoral thesis