Background: Both intra-abdominal fat (IAF) and HDL cholesterol (HDL-C) are known to be associated with cardiometabolic health problems, with an inverse correlation between them. However, there is little information about the association between HDL-C concentration with future accumulation of IAF. We conducted a prospective study to evaluate whether baseline HDL-C concentration was associated with the accumulation of CT-measured intra-abdominal fat (IAF) over 5 years.

Methods: All participants were Japanese-American men and women between the ages of 34 to 74 years. HDL-C concentration and CT-measurements of IAF, abdominal (SCF) and thigh (TF) subcutaneous fat cross-sectional areas were evaluated at baseline and 5 year follow-up visits. Data were analyzed to determine the association between HDL-C and future 5-year accumulation of IAF.

Results: A total of 545 subjects with and without diabetes (296 men, 249 women, and mean age 53.6±11.4 and 54.0±12.0 years, respectively) were included. The mean (SD) HDL-C concentration was 1.3 mmol/L (0.4) in men and 1.7 mmol/L (0.4) in women and mean (SD) IAF was 102 cm2 (53.8) in men and 74.5 cm2 (46.8) in women. Baseline HDL-C concentration was inversely associated with Δ IAF over 5 years using multivariable regression analysis adjusting for age, sex, diabetes family history, weight change over 5 years, and baseline measurements of BMI, IAF, abdominal SCF, abdominal circumference, TF, and HOMA-IR.

Conclusions: These results demonstrate that HDL-C concentration predicts significantly future accumulation of IAF over 5 years independent of age, sex, insulin sensitivity, and body composition in nondiabetic Japanese-American men and women.

Disclosure

S. Song: None. Y. Hwang: None. S.E. Kahn: Advisory Panel; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Intarcia Therapeutics, Inc., Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Novo Nordisk A/S. Consultant; Self; Neurimmune. Other Relationship; Self; Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Novo Nordisk A/S. D.L. Leonetti: None. W.Y. Fujimoto: None. E.J. Boyko: None.

Funding

National Institutes of Health DK31170, HL49293); University of Washington (DK017047, DK035816, RR-000037); VA Puget Sound Health Care System (to E.J.B., S.E.K.)

© 2019 by the American Diabetes Association.
2019
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