Serum Triglyceride Levels Independently Contribute to the Estimation of Visceral Fat Amount Among Nondiabetic Obese Adults

Abstract

Determining the visceral fat amount is important in the risk stratification for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and obesity-related disorders. The area-based measurement of visceral fat area (VFA) via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an accurate but expensive and time-consuming method for estimating visceral fat amount. The aim of our study was to identify a practical predictive parameter for visceral obesity in clinical settings.In this cross-sectional study, we recruited 51 nondiabetic obese (body mass index [BMI] ≥ 27 kg/m2) adults in Taiwan (21 men and 30 women, mean age 35.6 ± 9.2 years, mean BMI 33.3 ± 3.9 kg/m2). VFA was quantified by a single-slice MRI image. Anthropometric indices and biochemical parameters including fasting plasma glucose, serum level of alanine aminotransferase, and lipid profiles were measured. The associations between different variables and VFA were analyzed by linear regression analysis.Increases in BMI, waist circumference, serum levels of alanine aminotransferase and triglycerides (TGs), and decreased serum levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol were correlated with larger VFA. After adjustment for age, sex, and anthropometric indices, only serum TG level remained as an independent correlate of VFA. Besides demographic and anthropometric indices, adding TG level may explain a greater variance of VFA. In stepwise multivariate regression analysis, male sex, age, waist circumference, and serum TG level remained significant predictors of VFA. In a subgroup analysis among subjects with BMI ≥30 kg/m2, similar results were demonstrated and serum TG level remained as significant independent correlates of VFA in all of the predictive models.Among nondiabetic obese adults, serum TG level was positively associated with VFA. The combination of sex, age, anthropometric indices, and serum TG level may be used to estimate VFA in clinical settings.

Consumption of Cuban Policosanol Improves Blood Pressure and Lipid Profile via Enhancement of HDL Functionality in Healthy Women Subjects: Randomized, Double‐Blinded, and Placebo‐Controlled Study

“…Policosanol consumption reduced the TG/HDL-C ratio and visceral fat amount ( Table 1 ). In the current study, reduction of serum TG level was correlated with reduction of visceral fat mass in the policosanol group, and a Taiwanese study revealed that the serum TG level independently contributes to visceral fat amount [ 44 ]. Reduction of serum TG level could cause reduction of visceral fat mass.…”

Visceral Adiposity and Glucoregulatory Peptides are Associated with Susceptibility to Type 2 Diabetes: The TOFI_Asia Study

“…TAG as precursors of signaling molecules, including long-chain fatty acyl-coenzyme A, diacylglycerols, and ceramides, impair insulin signaling and secretion and, hence, glucose uptake. Additionally, VAT has been previously associated with concentrations of TAG in healthy Chinese individuals with normoglycemia and obesity (41), which is suggested to be the result of increased lipolysis due to the combination of increased production of TAG and their impaired clearance. Consistent with these outcomes, concentrations of both VAT and TAG were strong predictors of FPG in Chinese, and Caucasian, individuals.…”

Ghrelin receptor inverse agonists as a novel therapeutic approach against obesity‐related metabolic disease

“…The decreased visceral adiposity and possibly subsequent changes in liver lipid metabolism might have contributed to this tendency. In fact, hypertriglyceridaemia has been demonstrated to be the only independent correlate of visceral adiposity among several biometric and metabolic parameters in obese humans …”