Hypertriglyceridemic waist, cytokines and hyperglycaemia in Chinese

Background: Abdominal obesity and hypertriglyceridemia confer high risk for cardiometabolic disease. Few studies have investigated the associations of hypertriglyceridemic waist with cytokines and hyperglycaemia in Chinese.

Methods: Anthropometric indexes, fasting plasma concentrations of glucose, glycohemoglobin, insulin, lipid profile, inflammatory factors and adipokines were measured among 3289 Chinese men and women 50-70 years of age.

Results: An increment of every 2 cm of waist circumference was associated with increased levels of high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), interleukin 6 and RBP 4 by 0·033 mg/L, 0·018 ng/L and 0·556 mg/L and reduced levels of adiponectin by 0·269 mg/L (all P<0·05), respectively, with controlling for potential confounders. For triglycerides, each an increment of 20 mg/dL was associated with increased levels of hsCRP, RBP4, and decreased levels of adiponectin by 0·021 mg/L, 0·655 mg/L, and 0·371 mg/L (all P<0·05), respectively. Individuals with hypertriglyceridemic waist had increased risks of having hyperglycaemia (OR: 1·48; 95% CI: 1·09, 2·00) and diabetes mellitus (OR: 2·12; 95% CI: 1·47, 3·04) compared with those with neither of the phenotypes.

Conclusions: Hypertriglyceridemic waist is associated with a worse profile of inflammatory factors and adipokines as well as with an increased risk of having hyperglycaemia among Chinese.