MON-662 Diabetes Risk for Non-Obese Subjects in a Japanese Population

Abstract

[Background] Obesity is a major risk factor of developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, though not all obese people develop these conditions and diseases. Because Asian populations have a lower frequency of obesity in comparison with populations in the United States and Europe, it is important to detect risk factors for developing diabetes in non-obese Japanese populations. [Objectives] To examine risk factors for diabetes, and to consider countermeasures against diabetes development in Japanese populations, especially non-obese individuals. [Methods] This study examined 1,794 individuals (514 males and 1,280 females) who participated in both Adult Health Study health examinations on A-bomb survivors and their controls in Hiroshima and Nagasaki between 1994–1996 (baseline) and 2008–2011. They were aged 48–79 years and had not been diagnosed with diabetes at baseline or cancer. Obesity was defined as a BMI of 23 kg/m2 or greater based on the WHO recommendation for Asians. In accordance with AHA/NHLBI criteria for diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, we defined a diagnosis of metabolic abnormality as having at least two of the criteria other than abdominal obesity. The diagnostic criteria for diabetes were a fasting blood glucose ≥126 mg/dL, a non-fasting blood glucose ≥200mg/dL, a self-report of a diabetes diagnosis, or the initiation of medical treatment for diabetes during the follow-up period. We compared presences of fatty liver and metabolic abnormality, BMI at baseline, and changes of body weight from baseline between the group that developed diabetes and the group did not over a 15-year follow-up. [Results] During the follow-up period until 2001, 66 (7.0%) individuals and 127 individuals (14.8%) from the non-obese and obese groups, respectively, developed diabetes. BMI at baseline and presences of fatty liver and metabolic abnormality were associated with developing diabetes in both non-obese and obese groups. Changes in body weight from baseline were not a significant risk factor of diabetes in this study. Furthermore, we analyzed the association between diabetes risk and appendicular lean mass/height2 (ALM/H2) and handgrip strength based on the diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia among 676 subjects with information of these measurements at baseline. Occurrences of low ALM/H2 were associated with developing diabetes, but an association between low handgrip strength and developing diabetes was not observed. [Conclusion] Regardless of whether obesity was observed or not, presences of metabolic abnormality and fatty liver were significant risk factors. Increased risk of developing diabetes was observed among non-obese individuals with suspected sarcopenia. This study suggests that maintenance of muscle mass may be an effective countermeasure to reduce the risk of developing diabetes.