Abstract
BackgroundWhereas visceral abdominal adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with cardiometabolic risk, there is debate regarding the role of subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat with carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).MethodsA total of 234 patients (men 131, women 103, mean age: 53 years) with T2DM were enrolled. Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), abdominal subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT) and visceral fat thickness (VFT) were assessed by high-resolution B-mode ultrasonography (US).ResultsCompared to women, men had significantly higher VFT and lower SFT (p = 0.002, p = 0.04, respectively). In partial correlation coefficient analyses between CIMT and abdominal fat thickness after adjustment for body mass index (BMI), SFT showed a negative correlation with CIMT in men (r = -0.27, p = 0.03). VFT was not correlated with CIMT in either men or women. In women, SFT was not correlated with CIMT (r = -0.01, p = 0.93). VFT/SFT ratio was not correlated with CIMT in either men or women. In multivariate regression analyses adjusted for BMI and other CVD risk factors, SFT but not VFT was independently inversely associated with CIMT in men but not in women (p < 0.001).ConclusionsSFT assessed by US was inversely associated with carotid atherosclerosis in patients with T2DM, particularly men. Further research into the different roles of the two types of abdominal adipose tissue in both men and women is warranted.
Highlights
Whereas visceral abdominal adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with cardiometabolic risk, there is debate regarding the role of subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT)
After adjustment for body mass index (BMI), in men, whereas visceral fat thickness (VFT) was not correlated with Carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT), and subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT) was negatively correlated with CIMT (r = −0.15, p = 0.18, r = −0.27, p = 0.03, respectively)
The respective relationships of VFT and SFT with CIMT were not significant. In disagreement with those results, our results showed that the VFT/SFT ratio was not correlated with CIMT
Summary
Whereas visceral abdominal adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with cardiometabolic risk, there is debate regarding the role of subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationships of subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat with carotid atherosclerosis in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Obesity is associated with several types of cardiometabolic disturbances and metabolic syndrome (MS) [1]. It is evident that the abdominal fat accumulation plays a central role in the pathogenesis of CVD in obese subjects [1]. Excess visceral abdominal adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue (SAT) are key. The standard methods of assessing abdominal fat accumulation is computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [10,11]. Reliability of the US for assessing SFT is demonstrated in several studies [14,15,16]
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