ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation is a known risk factor for cardiometabolic diseases. Efficient imaging modalities are necessary to quantify VAT. The study

assessed the agreement between dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and single-slice computed tomography (CT) for abdominal fat quantification in mixed-ancestry South African women, and

determined if this differed by body mass index (BMI) categories. METHODS VAT and abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were measured using single-slice CT and DXA in 132 women aged 55

(45–64) years. Participants were categorised as normal weight (BMI < 25 kg/m2), overweight (BMI: 25–29.9 kg/m2) and obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2). Pearson correlation coefficients and

overall sample and across BMI categories. In the overall sample, the mean difference (DXA–CT estimates) was 75.3 cm2 (95% CI: 68.8–81.8 cm2, _p_ ≤ 0.0001) for VAT and 54.7 cm2 (47.1–62.3 

cm2, _p_ ≤ 0.0001) for SAT. Within increasing BMI categories, the variance between the two modalities was fixed for VAT (_p_ = 0.359 for obese), whereas the variance for SAT was

heteroscedastic (_p_ ≤ 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS DXA overestimated VAT and abdominal SAT in a sample of middle-aged mixed-ancestry South African women. VAT variance was fixed in the obesity

category, an indication that DXA may be valid in measuring VAT in obese people. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your

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LONGITUDINAL CHANGE IN VISCERAL ADIPOSE TISSUE IN PATIENTS WITH CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE Article 13 May 2021 ABDOMINAL SUBCUTANEOUS FAT QUANTIFICATION IN OBESE PATIENTS FROM LIMITED

FIELD-OF-VIEW MRI DATA Article Open access 04 November 2020 AGE- AND SEX-SPECIFIC VISCERAL FAT REFERENCE CUTOFFS AND THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH CARDIO-METABOLIC RISK Article 20 January 2021 DATA

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lessons in biostatistics. Biochem Med. 2015;25:141–51. Article  Google Scholar  Download references ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS We thank the Bellville South (Ward 009) community for participating in

the study. We are also grateful to the Bellville South Community Health Forum for supporting the engagement with the Bellville South community. FUNDING This research project was funded by

the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) with funds from National Treasury under its Economic Competitiveness and Support Package (MRC-RFA-UFSP-01-2013/ VMH Study) and strategic

funds from the SAMRC received from the South African National Department of Health. Any opinion, finding, and conclusion or recommendation expressed in this material is that of the author(s)

and the MRC does not accept any liability in this regard. FED was funded by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology Research fund (URF). AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS *

Department of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Symphony Way, Bellville, Cape Town, 7530, South Africa Florence E. Davidson & Saaiga

Ismail * SAMRC/CPUT/Cardiometabolic Health Research Unit, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Symphony Way,

Bellville, Cape Town, 7530, South Africa Tandi E. Matsha * Division of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS), University of

Stellenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa Rajiv T. Erasmus * Non-Communicable Diseases Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council, Francie van Zijl Drive, Parow Valley, Cape Town,

7505, South Africa Andre Pascal Kengne & Julia H. Goedecke Authors * Florence E. Davidson View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Tandi E.

Matsha View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Rajiv T. Erasmus View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google

Scholar * Saaiga Ismail View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Andre Pascal Kengne View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * Julia H. Goedecke View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CONTRIBUTIONS FED: data analysis and interpretation,

preparation of the first draft and approval of final draft. TEM: conception and design, acquisition and interpretation of data, revision for important intellectual content and approval of

final draft. RTE: conception and design, revision for important intellectual content and approval of final draft. SI: revision for important intellectual content and approval of final draft.

APK: conception and design, data analysis and interpretation of data, revision for important intellectual content and approval of final draft. JHG: data analysis and interpretation,

revision for important intellectual content and approval of final draft. Data access, responsibility and analysis: FED, APK, TEM and JHG had access to the data in the study and TEM, APK and

JHG take responsibility for the integrity of the data and accuracy of the data analysis. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Florence E. Davidson. ETHICS DECLARATIONS CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PUBLISHER’S NOTE Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps

and institutional affiliations. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION FIGURE S1 FIGURE S2 FIGURE S3 RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Davidson, F.E.,

Matsha, T.E., Erasmus, R.T. _et al._ Comparison of single-slice CT and DXA-derived measures of central adiposity in South African women. _Eur J Clin Nutr_ 74, 1282–1289 (2020).

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-020-0631-6 Download citation * Received: 13 December 2019 * Revised: 28 March 2020 * Accepted: 31 March 2020 * Published: 22 April 2020 * Issue Date: September

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