Relationships between visceral adipose tissue measurement site and the metabolic syndrome in the Korean population

Summary 

Objective

Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is presumed to play an important role in the development of metabolic syndrome (MS). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of measurement location of VAT on the cardiometabolic risk factors and the MS in the Korean population.

Methods

To assess abdominal fat distribution, 5 single-slice computed tomography (CT) images were obtained in 470 healthy subjects. The five CT images were obtained at the intervertebral space from L1 to S1 using known anatomical landmarks. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between regional adipose tissue areas and MS.

Results

All risk factors were more closely correlated with VAT than subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), except waist circumference and blood pressure. Images located at L2–L3 or L3–L4 provided high correlations between VAT area and all cardiometabolic risk factors. The highest adjusted odds (per SD) between VAT and MS were the L2–L3 image in men (OR 4.53) and the L1–L2 in women (OR 4.87), which was higher than measures at L4–L5 (OR 3.22 in men, OR 4.71 in women). However, differences in OR between L1–L2 VAT (OR 4.87) and L4–L5 (OR 4.71) were not great in women.

Conclusions

The results of this study suggest that VAT has a stronger association with MS than ASAT in Korean population regardless of measurement site, and an image located in the upper abdomen (L2–L3 or L3–L4) would be a better predictor of the relationship between VAT and MS in Korean men.

Keywords: Visceral adipose tissue, Metabolic syndrome, Measurement location, Computed tomography