Table 2.

Plasma, adipose tissue steroid concentrations and ratios in women with low and high VAI

	All women	Low VAI (N = 13)	High VAI (N = 18)	P value
Plasma cortisol (nM) [Md ± IQR]	217.7 ± 92.1	200.4 ± 64.6	220.0 ± 142.6	NS
Plasma cortisone (nM)	54.5 ± 19.3	51.7 ± 17.6	56.5 ± 20.6	NS
Plasma androstenedione (pM)		2238.9 ± 958.4	2551.7 ± 867.5	NS
Plasma testosterone (pM)	751.4 ± 275.6	739.3 ± 311.4	761.2 ± 253.0 i	NS
Plasma dihydrotestosterone (pM)	209.0 ± 82.2	204.1 ± 77.6	212.5 ± 87.4	NS
Plasma estrone (pM)	718.2 ± 471.7	647.2 ± 400.5	769.5 ± 522.3	NS
Plasma estradiol (pM) [Md ± IQR]	432.5 ± 239.1	333.1 ± 111.0	407.2 ± 259.1 j	NS
CAR AUCi (nM*min)[Md ± IQR]	92.4 ± 129.5	134.0 ± 147.7	68.7 ± 80.9	NS
S1 mean (nM) [Md ± IQR]	11.5 ± 5.9	11.9 ± 4.6	11.0 ± 5.3	NS
S2 mean (nM) [Md ± IQR]	14.3 ± 8.4	16.0 ± 8.6	12.7 ± 7.7	NS
S3 mean (nM)	16.0 ± 8.3	17.1 ± 7.1	13.1 ± 9.1	NS
SAT cortisol (F) (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	65 591 ± 70 957	25 382 ± 80 624 a	31 689 ± 55 365 j	NS
SAT cortisone (E) (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	23 132 ± 23 980	28 070 ± 21 394 b	7468 ± 24 011 i	NS
SAT dehydroepiandrosterone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	75 792 ± 144 541	89 828 ± 100 839 a	67 510 ± 135 272 i	NS
SAT androstenedione (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	26 592 ± 65 736	42 277 ± 66 065	18 233 ± 32 878	NS
SAT testosterone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	2545 ± 3317	1919 ± 3885 c	654 ± 1908	NS
SAT dihydrotestosterone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	631 ± 451	631 ± 1617 d	642 ± 413 g	N/A
SAT estrone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	5375 ± 3923	4653 ± 5979	3160 ± 6261	NS
SAT estradiol (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	3134 ± 2360	3802 ± 3148	1944 ± 1931 i	NS
SAT F:E ratio	5.1 ± 2.2	5.0 ± 2.3 e	5.1 ± 2.2 k	NS
SAT A4:DHEA ratio [Md ± IQR]	0.24 ± 0.13	0.30 ± 0.10 a	0.23 ± 0.09 k	NS
SAT E1:A4 ratio [Md ± IQR]	0.12 ± 0.10	0.10 ± 0.04	0.17 ± 0.11	< 0.01
SAT E2:T ratio [Md ± IQR]	1.6 ± 2.0	1.1 ± 1.1 c	2.5 ± 3.2 i	< 0.05
SAT (E1 + E2): (A4 + T) ratio [Md ± IQR]	0.20 ± 0.11	0.16 ± 2.0 c	0.23 ± 4.4 i	< 0.05
SAT E2:E1 ratio [Md ± IQR]	0.6 ± 0.3	0.64 ± 0.30	0.59 ± 0.20 i	NS
SAT AKR1C2 activity (FU/min)	13.5 ± 5.3	12.7 ± 5.8 c	14.0 ± 5.0	NS
VAT cortisol (pmol/kg)	64 065 ± 57 713	30 469 ± 27 672 f	67 222 ± 85 544	NS
VAT cortisone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	23 132 ± 30 749	30 062 ± 43 545	11 016 ± 21 976	NS
VAT dehydroepiandrosterone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	108 663 ± 112 359	98 306 ± 100 605 b	119 020 ± 115 336 k	NS
VAT androstenedione (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	57 212 ± 57 338	45 763 ± 115 507	22 328 ± 26 708 j	< 0.05
VAT testosterone (pmol/kg)[Md ± IQR]	2045 ± 2068	1923 ± 3584 c	568 ± 2205	< 0.05
VAT dihydrotestosterone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	473 ± 548	472 ± 110 g	1137 ± 912 d	N/A
VAT estrone (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	5382 ± 3518	5339 ± 4596	3976 ± 6165	NS
VAT estradiol (pmol/kg) [Md ± IQR]	3270 ± 2535	3068 ± 2461 c	2365 ± 3008 i	NS
VAT F:E ratio [Md ± IQR]	3.5 ± 2.5	3.8 ± 2.7 f	3.4 ± 3.1	NS
VAT A4:DHEA ratio [Md ± IQR]	0.23 ± 0.17	0.27 ± 0.22 b	0.20 ± 0.14 k	NS
VAT E1:A4 ratio[Md ± IQR]	0.10 ± 0.8	0.08 ± 0.3	0.13 ± 0.1 j	<0.01
VAT E2:T ratio [Md ± IQR]	2.0 ± 2.5	1.3 ± 1.9 h	2.4 ± 3.4 i	NS
VAT (E1 + E2): (A4 + T) ratio [Md ± IQR]	0.16 ± 0.11	0.11 ± 0.7 h	0.20 ± 0.15 k	< 0.01
VAT E2:E1 ratio	0.57 ± 0.30	0.61 ± 0.33 c	0.54 ± 0.28 k	NS
VAT AKR1C2 activity (FU/min)	8.3 ± 4.3	6.4 ± 3.6 h	9.5 ± 4.4 j	< 0.05

All data are listed as mean ± standard deviation (SD) or, when stated, median (Mdn) ± interquartile range (IQR).

Abbreviations: A4, androstenedione; AUCi, incremental area under the curve; CAR, cortisol awakening response; DHEA, dehydroepiandrosterone; E, cortisone; E1, estrone; E2, estradiol; F, cortisol; FU, fluoresence units; IQR, interquartile range; Md, median; N/A, not enough observations; NS, not significant; S1, S2, S3, saliva samples 1, 2 and 3; SAT, subcutaneous adipose tissue; T, testosterone; VAI, visceral adiposity index; VAT, visceral adipose tissue.

Low VAI N = 13 vs high VAI N = 18 unless otherwise stated:

^aN = 10,

^b N = 9,

^c N = 12,

^d N = 3,

^eN = 6,

^fN = 8,

^gN = 4,

^hN = 11,

ⁱN = 16,

^jN = 17,

^kN = 15.