Association of lung function measurements and visceral fat in men with metabolic syndrome

Several studies have reported a positive relationship between lung function impairment and the metabolic syndrome. This is most usually explained by abdominal adiposity. We hypothesized that the main determinant of the association between lung function impairment and abdominal obesity is the presence of visceral fat.

The present study is a cross-sectional analysis of 98 non-diabetic men aged between 50 and 70 years with the metabolic syndrome. The amount of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue was determined by an MRI scan. The association between visceral fat and measures of lung function (FEV1, FVC, exhaled and NO) was assessed using linear regression.

98 participants were included in this analysis. There was a linear inverse association between visceral fat and both FEV1 and FVC. None of the other different fat-related measurements (subcutaneous fat, waist circumference and BMI) or features of the metabolic syndrome were found to be associated with these lung function measurements.

In non-diabetic subjects with the metabolic syndrome and a lung function that is within the normal range, visceral fat is negatively correlated with FEV1 and FVC.