Jakubiak Grzegorz K, Badicu Georgian, Surma Stanisław, Waluga-Kozłowska Ewa, Chwalba Artur, Pawlas Natalia
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medical Sciences in Zabrze, Medical University of Silesia, 41-808 Zabrze, Poland.
Department of Physical Education and Special Motricity, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500068 Brașov, Romania.
Nutrients. 2025 Jul 20;17(14):2374. doi: 10.3390/nu17142374.
Obesity is currently one of the most critical public health problems. Although there is no doubt that obesity is a significant risk factor for developing metabolic disorders, this relationship is not completely straightforward. On the one hand, some patients affected by obesity are metabolically unhealthy, while others are metabolically healthy; on the other hand, metabolic syndrome (MetS) can also occur in people with a normal body weight. A commonly used tool for diagnosing obesity is the body mass index (BMI), but the search for better anthropometric measures is ongoing due to the significant limitations of this measure. Obesity can lead to MetS and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Adipose tissue dysfunction is the fundamental mechanism linking obesity and cardiometabolic diseases, which is rooted in the disturbed secretion of adipokines. The visceral adiposity index (VAI) is calculated based on the BMI, waist circumference (WC), blood triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) concentrations. It was proposed in 2010 by Amato et al. as a parameter indicating adipose tissue dysfunction and cardiometabolic risk. According to the research conducted so far, some data confirm a relationship between the VAI value and the risk of developing prediabetes, diabetes, insulin resistance, fatty liver disease, MetS, CVD, and chronic kidney disease. Further research is needed to support the implementation of VAI assessment in routine clinical practice. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a narrative literature review summarizing current knowledge regarding the VAI and its usefulness in clinical practice for assessing cardiometabolic risk.
肥胖是当前最严峻的公共卫生问题之一。尽管毫无疑问肥胖是引发代谢紊乱的重要风险因素，但这种关系并非完全简单直接。一方面，一些肥胖患者代谢不健康，而另一些则代谢健康；另一方面，代谢综合征（MetS）也可能出现在体重正常的人群中。诊断肥胖常用的工具是体重指数（BMI），但由于该指标存在显著局限性，人们仍在寻找更好的人体测量方法。肥胖可导致代谢综合征和心血管疾病（CVDs）。脂肪组织功能障碍是连接肥胖与心脏代谢疾病的根本机制，其根源在于脂肪因子分泌紊乱。内脏脂肪指数（VAI）是根据BMI、腰围（WC）、血液甘油三酯（TG）和高密度脂蛋白胆固醇（HDL-C）浓度计算得出的。它由阿马托等人于2010年提出，作为指示脂肪组织功能障碍和心脏代谢风险的参数。根据目前已开展的研究，一些数据证实了VAI值与前驱糖尿病、糖尿病、胰岛素抵抗、脂肪肝疾病、代谢综合征、心血管疾病和慢性肾脏病发生风险之间的关系。需要进一步研究以支持在常规临床实践中实施VAI评估。本文的目的是呈现一篇叙述性文献综述的结果，总结关于VAI及其在临床实践中评估心脏代谢风险的实用性的当前知识。
