Relative skeletal muscle mass is associated with development of metabolic syndrome

Visceral adiposity is related to insulin resistance. Skeletal muscle plays a central role in insulin-mediated glucose disposal; however, little is known about the association between muscle mass and metabolic syndrome (MS). This study is to clarify the clinical role of skeletal muscle mass in development of MS.

A total of 1,042 subjects were enrolled. Subjects with prior MS and chronic diseases were excluded. After 24 months, development of MS was assessed using NCEP-ATP III criteria. Skeletal muscle mass (SMM; kg), body fat mass (BFM; kg), and visceral fat area (VFA; cm(2)) were obtained from bioelectrical analysis. Then, the following values were calculated as follows: percent of SMM (SMM%; %): SMM (kg)/weight (kg), skeletal muscle index (SMI; kg/m(2)): SMM (kg)/height (m(2)), skeletal muscle to body fat ratio (MFR): SMM (kg)/BFM (kg), and skeletal muscle to visceral fat ratio (SVR; kg/cm(2)): SMM (kg)/VFA (cm(2)).

Among 838 subjects, 88 (10.5%) were newly diagnosed with MS. Development of MS increased according to increasing quintiles of BMI, SMM, VFA, and SMI, but was negatively associated with SMM%, MFR, and SVR. VFA was positively associated with high waist circumference (WC), high blood pressure (BP), dysglycemia, and high triglyceride (TG). In contrast, MFR was negatively associated with high WC, high BP, dysglycemia, and high TG. SVR was negatively associated with all components of MS.

Relative SMM ratio to body composition, rather than absolute mass, may play a critical role in development of MS and could be used as a strong predictor.