Evaluation of visceral adipose accumulation in Japanese women and establishment of a predictive formula

Abstract

Abdominal obesity is a known risk factor for diabetes-related diseases. This study aimed to establish a formula to predict visceral abdominal fat area on the basis of simple clinical and anthropomorphic parameters easily measured in the clinic. We determined visceral fat (V) and subcutaneous fat (S) areas in 115 Japanese women using the standard procedure based on computed tomography (CT) at umbilical level. Furthermore, we measured clinical and anthropometric parameters including height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, skin fold thickness and body fat percentage. In 115 subjects, V area was 87.8+/-52.5 cm2 and S area was 221.1+/-99.7cm2. Abdominal obesity is diagnosed in Japan as a V area > or =100 cm2; on this basis 42 women (37%) had abdominal obesity. The prevalences of diabetes and related diseases were significantly higher among women with abdominal obesity. By simple regression analysis, V and S areas significantly correlated with anthropometric parameters: in particular, V area correlated with waist circumference (r=0.745, p<0.01) and S area with body mass index (r=0.793, p<0.01). However, these parameters were not sufficient to predict V area. By multiple regression analysis using simple parameters, we established the following formula to predict visceal fat: V area = 159.475 + 1.023(age) - 2.119(height) + 1.454(body weight) + 2.841(waist circumference) - 1.208(hip circumference) (r=0.812, p<0.01). The V area calculated by formula correlated (r=0.761) with that determined by CT in a second age-matched group of 31 Japanese women. The present study confirms that visceral adipose tissue is closely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and hypertension, and generated a formula to predict visceral adipose tissue accumulation.