Association of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and type 2 diabetes mellitus among adults in China

Aims/introduction: To clarify the association of the hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and type 2 diabetes mellitus among adults in China.

Materials and methods: In the present case-control study, we included 1,685 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and 7,141 normal glucose-tolerant controls from the Henan Province of China in 2011. Elevated waist circumference (GW) was defined as ≥90 cm for men and ≥80 cm for women. Hypertriglyceridemia (HT) was defined as >1.7 m mol/L triglycerides (TG) level. The association of hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype and type 2 diabetes mellitus was investigated by sex, body mass index, physical activity, and family history of diabetes.

Results: Cases and controls differed in age, waist circumference (WC), weight, TG level, fasting glucose, body mass index, smoking status, diabetic family history, physical activity and hypertriglyceridemic waist phenotype (P < 0.05), but not alcohol drinking (P = 0.63). In the overall sample, as compared with the phenotype of normal TG level and normal WC (NTNW), normal TG level/enlarged WC (NTGW), elevated TG level/normal WC (HTNW) and elevated TG level/enlarged WC (HTGW) were associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (odds ratio 4.14, 2.42 and 6.23, respectively). Only HTGW was consistently associated with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, with or without adjustment. The strongest relationship between HTGW and type 2 diabetes mellitus was for subjects with body mass index <24.0 kg/m(2) (odds ratio 6.54, 95% confidence interval 4.22-10.14) after adjustment for cofounding variables.

Conclusion: HTGW was stably and significantly associated with risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adult Chinese.