REALLY?

LITTLE ROCK — Is being pear-shaped less risky than being apple-shaped?

New research casts some doubt on the notion that people who carry excess fat in the hips, thighs and bottoms (“pears”) have lower heart disease and diabetes risk than those with most of their excess weight around the middle (“apples”).

A new study posted online by the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests that for those at slightly increased risk of developing diabetes, fat stored in the buttocks pumps out abnormal levels of two proteins associated with inflammation and insulin resistance.

The people studied already had at least three of these risk factors for diabetes - large waist circumference, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, low HDL (“good” cholesterol), high fasting blood sugar - but no cardiovascular disease or diabetes.

The researchers found the fat in and around their buttocks created unusually high levels of chemerin, a protein that has been linked to high blood pressure, elevated levels of C-reactive protein, triglycerides and insulin resistance, and low levels of good cholesterol. The blood and subcutaneous fat drawn from this gluteal tissue also contained unusually low levels of omentin-1, a protein that, when low, is linked to high ilycerides, high circulating glucose levels and low levels of good cholesterol.

“Fat in the abdomen has long been considered the most detrimental to health, and gluteal fat was thought to protect against diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome,” said Ishwarlal Jialal, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine and of internal medicine at the University of California-Davis. “But our research helps to dispel the myth that gluteal fat is innocent.”