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Visceral fat amount is associated with carotid atherosclerosis even in type 2 diabetic men with a normal waist circumference

International Journal of Obesity volume 33, pages 131–135 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

Our objective was to investigate whether determination of the quantity of visceral fat has an additional benefit in assessing atherosclerotic burden in men with type 2 diabetes compared with the traditional measurement of waist circumference (WC) alone.

Methods:

This was an observational study performed in 368 men with type 2 diabetes, consecutively enrolled in Diabetes Clinics. Common carotid artery far-wall intima-media thickness (IMT), WC and visceral fat thickness (VFT), as measured by ultrasonography, were measured for each subject. Abdominal and visceral obesity were defined as a WC >90 cm and a VFT ⩾47.6 mm, respectively.

Results:

Among subjects with abdominal obesity (n=174), 35 subjects did not have visceral obesity. In contrast, among the subjects without abdominal obesity (n=194), 88 patients had visceral obesity. Despite no differences in age, glucose control, lipid profile and treatment modalities, there was a significant difference in carotid IMT based on VFT strata, but not WC strata. The subjects without abdominal obesity, but who had visceral obesity, had a higher carotid IMT compared with subjects with abdominal obesity, but without visceral obesity (maximal, 0.94±0.35 vs 0.78±0.17 mm; and average, 0.74±0.19 vs 0.64±0.14 mm, respectively, P<0.001).

Conclusions:

Subjects having visceral obesity, regardless of a normal WC, showed a higher carotid IMT compared with those with increased WC, but less visceral fat. In addition to WC, a direct estimation for visceral fat may provide an additional role in assessing atherosclerotic burden in men with type 2 diabetes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Pochon CHA University, Sungnam, Korea

    S K Kim, S W Park & Y W Cho

  2. Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    S K Kim, B S Cha & H C Lee

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Kwandong University College of Medicine, Koyang, Korea

    S H Kim

  4. Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    B S Cha & H C Lee

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  1. S K Kim
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Correspondence to S K Kim.

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Kim, S., Park, S., Kim, S. et al. Visceral fat amount is associated with carotid atherosclerosis even in type 2 diabetic men with a normal waist circumference. Int J Obes 33, 131–135 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2008.222

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