The Gender-Specific Effect of Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipose Tissues on Cardiometabolic Risk in a Chinese Population

Abstract BackgroundPrevious studies demonstrated that visceral adipose tissue (VAT) contributed to increased risks for multiple cardiometabolic factors. However, the effects of subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were controversial. Furthermore, their effects were varied across sexes. The aim of this study was to examine the gender-specific effects of VAT, SAT, and VAT/SAT ratio on cardiometabolic risk factors. Methods1388 eligible subjects were recruited from a metabolic syndrome cross-sectional study in China. Areas of abdominal VAT and SAT were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Multiple logistic regression was used to calculate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). ResultsSAT, VAT, and VAT/SAT ratio had significant age-adjusted, positive correlations with body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total triglycerides (TG), and inverse correlations with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) except VAT/SAT ratio with FPG in men. After additional controlled by BMI, consistent results were found in VAT and VAT/SAT ratio except for VAT with FPG, however, women showed significant inverse correlations between SAT and SBP, DBP and TG. Higher SAT exhibited a significantly reduced risk for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in women, the ORs in third quartile (Q3) and fourth quartile (Q4) group were 0.3 (95% CI: 0.13-0.74) and 0.19 (95% CI: 0.07-0.54). Men had higher ORs of VAT, VAT/SAT ratio than women in higher TG, low HDL-C, and hypertension while the ORs of VAT/SAT ratio in men were lower than women in T2D. Conclusions SAT exhibited a beneficial effect on T2D. VAT and VAT/SAT ratio linked increased risks for high TG, low HDL-C, and hypertension, with men had a more pronounced effect than women. Distribution of abdominal fat associates with its biological effects.