Background: Body composition measurements are useful for assessing cardiometabolic risk. But the associations of the fat-to-muscle ratio with insulin resistance was not well investigated.
Methods: Adults with impaired fasting glucose were recruited from a community hospital in Taiwan during 2017. Demographics, lifestyle features, and medical history were gathered by well-trained interviewers. All participants underwent comprehensive physical examinations, including a biochemical assay of venous blood specimens and urine samples after an 8-hour overnight fast. Fat-to-muscle ratio was measured using whole-body dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and calculated as follows: total fat mass (g) divided by total lean mass (g). The homeostasis model assessment for IR (HOMA-IR) was used to evaluate insulin resistance and was calculated as follows: [fasting plasma glucose level (mg/dL) × fasting plasma insulin level (uIU/mL)]/405. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was employed to explore the relation between fat-to-muscle ratio and insulin resistance.
Results: Among 234 participants, the proportion of women was 50.1%, and the mean age was 64.2 ± 10.0 years. The fat-to-muscle ratio significantly differed between men and women (0.38 ± 0.12 vs. 0.62 ± 0.16, respectively, P < 0.001). Insulin resistance is significantly associated with fat-to-muscle ratio increased (P<0.001). The multivariable-adjusted odds ratio of fat-to-muscle ratio for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR ≥ 3) were 65.38 [95% confidence interval (CI): 4.03- >999.999] in men, and 12.73 (95% CI: 2.64- 61.41) in women.
Conclusions: The current study revealed that a high fat-to-muscle ratio was significantly associated with increased risk of insulin resistance in adults with impaired fasting glucose.
Y. Lai: None.
