Contribution of visceral fat accumulation to carotid intima-media thickness in a Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE

Recent observational studies have reported that body fat distribution might be differentially associated with subclinical atherosclerosis. We previously reported that visceral fat area (VFA) ≥ 80 cm2 is the optimal cutoff for identifying abdominal obesity in Chinese subjects. We examined whether VFA ≥ 80 cm2 reflects the association between abdominal obesity and subclinical atherosclerosis, and if determination of the visceral fat quantity is useful for assessing subclinical atherosclerosis in asymptomatic individuals.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Participants (N=1005, men 515, women 490, 34-66 years) free of cardiovascular disease underwent magnetic resonance imaging and carotid ultrasound assessment to quantify VFA and carotid intima-media thickness (C-IMT). Overweight/obese subjects (body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25.0 kg m(-2)) had a higher C-IMT than lean subjects (BMI <25.0 kg m(-2)) (P<0.01). Subjects with VFA ≥ 80 cm2 had significantly higher C-IMT than those without abdominal obesity regardless of BMI (P<0.01). By multivariate regression analysis adjusted for anthropometric measurements and cardiovascular risk factors, waist circumference but not BMI was independently correlated with C-IMT in men (P<0.001). Similar findings were observed with an accurate obesity indices adjusted model, which showed that VFA was an independent risk factor for increased C-IMT in men but not in women.

CONCLUSIONS

VFA 80 cm2 effectively identified carotid atherosclerosis for both lean and obese individuals in middle-aged Chinese men.