Cardiopulmonary fitness, insulin sensitivity and myocardial fat: a CMR/MRS study in obese non-diabetic women

Background Obesity predisposes to heart failure, particularly in sedentary subjects. Among others, alterations in myocardial substrate metabolism, myocardial triglyceride (MTG) accumulation and lipotoxicity may be involved. MTG is excessive in overt diabetes and related to diastolic dysfunction. In men, exercise training improves MTG, cardiac performance, physical fitness and insulin sensitivity. Given the gender difference in metabolic response to obesity these results cannot be simply extrapolated to women. Thus, it was the objective to explore the relation between cardiorespiratory fitness, cardiac function, and MTG in obese women.