Metabolically healthy obesity and its associates in Mongolian Chinese adults

Not all obese individuals show cardiometabolic abnormalities. We examined metabolically healthy obesity (MHO) and its associates in 2530 Mongolian Chinese adults.

MHO was defined by waist circumference, low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TGs), systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and glucose.

Only 3.0% of the participants had MHO, with 0.8% of men and 4.5% of women having this condition (P < 0.001 for sex difference). Despite striking differences in obesity measures, MHO individuals had a comparable cardiometabolic profile to that for metabolically healthy, nonobese individuals (MHNO) and an improved cardiometabolic profile, i.e., lower levels of blood pressure, glucose, insulin, LDL-C, TGs, and higher levels of HDL-C compared to metabolically abnormal individuals (all P < 0.01, except for insulin). MHO individuals had lower levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1, compared to metabolically abnormal individuals, and had comparable levels of these markers to those in MHNO individuals. Furthermore, only 5.3% of MHO individuals had a family history of hypertension, comparable to 5.0% in MHNO individuals, and much lower than 15.9% in metabolically abnormal, nonobese individuals and 12.8% in metabolically abnormal, obese individuals (overall P < 0.001).

We conclude that MHO is associated with a low inflammation state, and family history of hypertension may play a role in the MHO phenotype.