Visceral fat amount is associated with carotid atherosclerosis even in type 2 diabetic men with a normal waist circumference

Abstract

Objective: Our objective was to investigate whether determination of the quantity of visceral fat has an additional benefit in assessing atherosclerotic burden in men with type 2 diabetes compared with the traditional measurement of waist circumference (WC) alone. Methods: This was an observational study performed in 368 men with type 2 diabetes, consecutively enrolled in Diabetes Clinics. Common carotid artery far-wall intima-media thickness (IMT), WC and visceral fat thickness (VFT), as measured by ultrasonography, were measured for each subject. Abdominal and visceral obesity were defined as a WC 490 cm and a VFT X47.6 mm, respectively. Results: Among subjects with abdominal obesity (n ¼ 174), 35 subjects did not have visceral obesity. In contrast, among the subjects without abdominal obesity (n ¼ 194), 88 patients had visceral obesity. Despite no differences in age, glucose control, lipid profile and treatment modalities, there was a significant difference in carotid IMT based on VFT strata, but not WC strata. The subjects without abdominal obesity, but who had visceral obesity, had a higher carotid IMT compared with subjects with abdominal obesity, but without visceral obesity (maximal, 0.94 ± 0.35 vs 0.78 ± 0.17 mm; and average, 0.74 ± 0.19 vs 0.64 ± 0.14 mm, respectively, Po0.001). Conclusions: Subjects having visceral obesity, regardless of a normal WC, showed a higher carotid IMT compared with those with increased WC, but less visceral fat. In addition to WC, a direct estimation for visceral fat may provide an additional role in assessing atherosclerotic burden in men with type 2 diabetes.

Irisin, a novel myokine is an independent predictor for sarcopenia and carotid atherosclerosis in dialysis patients

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High fat stores in ectopic compartments in men with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes: an anthropometric determinant of carotid atherosclerosis and insulin resistance

“…13 Another study reported the identification of a metabolically benign type of obesity, in which the subjects are generally obese, but have a relatively lower deposition of fat in the ectopic sites. 14 Thus, what seems to be more important is not how fat is accumulated, but where the body fat is located.…”

Decreased Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Increased Serum Glycated Albumin Are Independently Correlated With Plaque-Forming Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis in Type 2 Diabetes Patients Without Documented Ischemic Disease

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