Serum γ-glutamyltransferase levels and obesity status changes the risk of prehypertension in Chinese adults

Abstract

ObjectiveIt’s well known that γ-Glutamyltransferase (γ-GGT) and obesity plays an important role in the development of preHT. However, the effect of γ-GGT on preHT in populations with different obesity status remains unclear. MethodsFrom February 2014 to January 2018, a total of 20,368 participants were enrolled in this study after excluding those with hypertension and liver diseases. Fasting blood samples were collected to measure γ-GGT and blood lipid levels and glucose indices. Demographic andclinical parameters such assex, age, height, weight, neck circumference (NC), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and body fat ratio (BFR); and information on smoking and alcohol consumption were collected by trained medical professionals. ResultsParticipants were divided into three groups based on obesity status. The prevalence of preHT was 83.5 % in the obesity group was higher than that in the overweight group (58.9 %) and the normal group (47.1 %). γ-GGT in different categories of obesity indices were significantly different, and higher obesity indices were found with higher γ-GGT levels. The interaction of γ-GGT and obesity indices such as NC, WC, HC, and BFR on the prevalence of preHT was significant (P = 0.028, 0.002, 0.007, and 0.034, respectively). Serum γ-GGT was found to be positively associated with preHT in participants with normal and overweight body mass indices. ConclusionOur results indicate that γ-GGT is a risk factor for preHT in participants who are nonobese, and that the obesity indices NC, WC, HC, BFR, and γ-GGT were contributing factors in increasing the risk of preHT.