Supplementary Material for: Effects of Weight Loss with and without Exercise on Regional Body Fat Distribution in Postmenopausal Women

<strong><em>Background/Aims:</em></strong> The purpose was to determine whether lifestyle interventions have different effects on regional fat in women with normal glucose tolerance vs. impaired glucose tolerance (NGT vs. IGT). <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Changes in glucose metabolism (2-h oral glucose-tolerance tests), android to gynoid fat mass ratio (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry [DXA]), visceral to subcutaneous abdominal fat area ratio (CT), and abdominal to gluteal subcutaneous fat cell weight (FCW; adipose tissue biopsies) were determined in 60 overweight postmenopausal women (45-80 years) following 6 months of weight loss alone (WL; <i>n</i> = 28) or with aerobic exercise (AEX + WL; <i>n</i> = 32). <b><i>Results:</i></b> The interventions led to ∼8% decrease in weight, but only the AEX + WL group improved fitness (↑11% in VO₂max) and reduced the android-to-gynoid fat mass ratio (↓5%; <i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). Both NGT and IGT groups reduced visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat areas and abdominal and gluteal FCWs, which related to improvements in homeostatic model assessment (<i>r</i> = 0.34-0.42) and 2-h glucose (<i>r</i> = 0.34-0.35), respectively (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). The decline in FCW was 2× greater in women with IGT following WL (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.05). The ratios of abdominal-to-gluteal FCW did not change following either intervention. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> The mechanisms by which WL with and without exercise impact regional fat loss should be explored as reductions in abdominal fat area and subcutaneous FCW appear to influence glucose metabolism.