Association between abdominal fat distribution and atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery

SummaryAimWe aimed to evaluate the association between abdominal fat distribution (e.g., abdominal visceral fat area [VFA], subcutaneous fat area [SFA], and total fat area [TFA]), waist circumference (WC), or body mass index (BMI) and atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery after adjusting for common risk factors.MethodsThe present study is a hospital-based, cross-sectional study. Study participants included 223 Japanese individuals who underwent a medical health checkup at Juntendo University Hospital, Tokyo, between December 2005 and August 2011. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between abdominal VFA, SFA, TFA, the VFA/SFA ratio, WC, or BMI and intima-media thickness [IMT] (mean IMT ≥ 1.1 mm or maximum IMT ≥ 1.2 mm) as atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery.ResultsMultivariate logistic regression analysis showed that VFA (OR for ≥150 cm2 versus <100 cm2, 3.88; 95% CI, 1.39–10.85), BMI (OR for ≥27.6 kg/m2 versus <25 kg/m2, 5.22; 95% CI, 1.69–16.16), and TFA (OR for 200–285 cm2 versus <200 cm2, 4.15; 95% CI, 1.34–12.86: OR for ≥285 cm2 versus <200 cm2, 5.53; 95% CI, 1.76–17.35) were significantly associated with atherosclerotic changes in men. After adjustment for BMI, only TFA (OR for ≥285 cm2 versus <200 cm2, 3.76; 95%CI, 1.03–13.79) in men was significantly associated with atherosclerotic changes in the carotid artery.ConclusionsOur results indicate that VFA, TFA, and BMI are independently associated with atherosclerotic changes in Japanese men. TFA may be considered as a valuable measure of atherosclerotic changes.