Anthropometrically predicted visceral adipose tissue and blood-based biomarkers: a cross-sectional analysis

We hypothesized that anthropometrically predicted visceral adipose tissue (apVAT) accounts for more variance in blood-based biomarkers of glucose homeostasis, inflammation, and lipid metabolism than body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and the combination of BMI and WC (BMI + WC).

This was a cross-sectional analysis of 10,624 males and females who participated in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III; 1988-1994). apVAT was predicted from a validated regression equation that included age, height, weight, waist, and thigh circumferences. Bootstrapped linear regression models were used to compare the proportion of variance (R ²) in biomarkers explained by apVAT, BMI, WC, and BMI + WC.

apVAT accounted for more variance in biomarkers of glucose homeostasis than BMI (∆R ² = 8.4-11.8 %; P < 0.001), WC (∆R ² = 5.5-8.4 %; P < 0.001), and BMI + WC (∆R ² = 5.1-7.7 %; P < 0.001). apVAT accounted for more variance in biomarkers of inflammation than BMI (ΔR ² = 3.8 %; P < 0.001), WC (ΔR ² = 3.1 %; P < 0.001), and BMI + WC (ΔR ² = 2.9 %; P < 0.001). apVAT accounted for more variance in biomarkers of lipid metabolism than BMI (ΔR ² = 2.9-9.2 %; P < 0.001), WC (ΔR ² = 2.9-5.2 %; P < 0.001), and BMI + WC (ΔR ² = 2.4-4.1 %; P ≤ 0.01).

apVAT, estimated with simple and widely used anthropometric measures, accounts for more variance in blood-based biomarkers than BMI, WC, and BMI + WC. Clinicians and researchers may consider utilizing apVAT to characterize cardio-metabolic health, particularly in settings with limited availability of imaging and laboratory data.